The Development of Modern Public Administration as aDiscipline in India

Prabhat Datta
Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
and
Pan-Suk Kim
Yonsei University

After the Second World War, developing countries came under the
influence of American scholarship through exchange programs, funding of
public administration institutions, and direct consulting by American
development experts. As other developing countries established similar
institutions, India’s then-Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,
established the Indian Institute of Public Administration in March 1954
based on the recommendations of a survey carried out in 1953 by
American scholar, Paul H. Appleby, then Dean of the Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in the USA. Since
then, Indian public administration has developed significantly in both
quality and quantity of research and professional education. However,
there are many issues to consider for further development. Accordingly,
this article tackles such matters in reviewing the spread of American
influence in India and the status of public administration as a discipline,
and, then, discusses the neo-liberal and technological phase and its
administrative implications.