The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service official, also known as a public servant or public employee, is a person employed in the public sector by a government department or agency for public sector undertakings. Civil servants work for central and state governments, and answer to the government, not a political party.

सिविल सेवा के दो अर्थ लगाये जाते हैं-

• असैनिक सेवा - इसमें वे सभी कर्मचारी आते हैं जो सेना में नहीं हैं।

• शासकीय सेवा की एक शाखा