PM determined to reform ‘Babus’

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exclusive report 

PM determined to reform ‘Babus’

Lateral entrants hiring begins

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov. 8

As the bureaucracy continues to function in its own stubborn style, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is introducing a “target-oriented and ground-to-earth” work culture in the system.

with the bureaucracy continuing to work in silos and creating one hurdle after the other, the PM has already introduced the Lateral entry route for recruitment of officers at the level of the Joint Secretary who is the backbone. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)  has already recruited nearly a dozen Lateral entrants in the rank of Joint Secretaries as Domain experts. Now the NITI Aayog and DoPT are set to hire 50 officers through this route. But these will be in the rank of Deputy Secretaries and Directors, a step below the JS. The last date of seeking application by NITI Aayog is November 17 and 50 Domain experts will be hired in the rank of Deputy Secretaries and Directors. “All these new recruits outside the regular IAS and other Central Services routes will herald a new era in the Indian bureaucracy and administration,” said a senior officer in the Department of Personnel under the Prime Minister.

He said that the Prime Minister is tired to reforming the monolith bureaucratic culture ever since he came to Lutyen’s Delhi in May 2014. They opposed the bio-metric system for all. Then they all wanted to have two hour lunch break and evenings free for parties. At least 30 such administrative reforms were brought in. Yet, the culture hasn't changed. 

The PM himself gave a clue of his utter dislike  when he addressed ‘combined foundation course’ for 400 young officers that young IAS  officers should go to people, and change the legacy of colonialism. He was addressing the 'combined foundation course' comprising 400 young officers from various services including IAS officers in the in the  'tent city' of Kewadia in Gujarat, “We don’t expect status quo from you. The presence of silos and hierarchy does not help our system.”

The PM had directed that all senior officers must stay for at least one week in a backward district to understand their problem. But he also found that the officers didn’t have the heart in the job assigned. The PM has already shown the door to at least 30 secretary level officers for their poor showing until now. The PM’s sermon is that officers are service providers and its their duty to increase the ease of living of the people.

Babus unwilling to come on Central deputations

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Babus unwilling to come on Central deputations

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov. 7

The Babus, IAS, IPS and other officers of Central services are unwilling to come to Delhi to serve the NaMo administration.

Be it Maharashtra or Modi’s own state of Gujrat, the story continues to be the same. The Babus don’t want to serve in Delhi and are happy to be in the cozy environment of the states. Surprisingly, the Central deputation under the central staffing scheme (CSS) in 2018-19 was lowest in the last five years as only 153 IAS officers were appointed on central deputation.

Maharashtra had a quota of 78 officers to be placed at the disposal of the Centre. But only 24 were sent by the state on the ground of paucity of officers. The case of Gujrat was no different when only 17 showed in contrast to the quota of 64. (see the table). As many as 340 IAS officers were appointed under the CSS during 2014-15 and 320 in 2015-16 and 247 during 2016-17. This number came down to 211 during 2017-18. The number is falling at the alarming rate as per the official data available.

Surprisingly, the trend was encouraging in earlier years for the Indian Revenue services (IRS) and Indian Postal Services (IPS). But that started sliding. For example, the IRS & IPS as many as 196 appointments were made under the CSS in 2014-15. This rose to 237 on central deputation in 2015-16 and 246 in 2016-17. But it fell to 171 in 2017-18 and 195 in 2018-19, the data said.

The total authorised strength of IAS officers is 6,500 as on January 1, 2019, and the CDR is 1,381. Out of these 1,381 IAS officers, there were 507 IAS officers working at the Centre. UP was supposed to sent 134 officer. But it spared only 44.

Modi's crack down on Corrupt bureaucracy now

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Modi's crack down on Corrupt bureaucracy now

Third List of “Dead-wood Babus” readied

Secretaries told to dust up files

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, June 22

The Modi government, in its second stint, has sent a clear signal to cleanse ministries, departments and PSUs of corruption and inefficiency at the bureaucratic level.

If the Modi government sacked 27 IRS and customs officers within one month of its second stint, a list of another 50-60 is on the anvil drawn from various departments and PSUs. This include IAS, IPS and other services including those belonging to the PSUs.

Various reports of the Central Vigilance Commission which recommended penal action against these officers are gathering dust for years. Penal action recommended against officers for dereliction of duty had no takers. Now it transpires that Department of Personnel under PM Modi and junior Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Ministry of Home Affairs under Amit Shah have set up a cell where all such cases are being scrutinised for speedy action.

The government's intention became clear after the DOPT wrote a to all secretaries of ministries and departments asking them to submit reports of officers who they think should be prematurely retired under Fundamental Rule 56(j) (1) and Rule 48 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. Fundamental Rule 56(j) of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, provides for compulsory retirement of government staff in public interest. No appeal can be filed against this order who are above the age of 50 years as these officers are not denied pensionery benefits. Interestingly, this rule existed for long but rarely used during the past several decades.

A senior minister who is part of this exercise explained on the condition of anonymity that the files of 27 IRS and Customs & excise officers retired prematurely from service was pending for the past several years. The action was delayed due to one reason or the other. However, when the 100-day agenda of the government was being chalked out, it was suggested by ministers that action against the corrupt officers in various wings be expedited. The focus is on those officers who have been found guilty and continue in service without any stay order from courts or otherwise. Obviously, the Modi government is sending a clear signal that it will not tolerate the deadwood and corrupt. The government is also on track to hire talent through the lateral entry route to draw talent.

While in the first term, Modi claimed at public meetings that there were no allegations of corruption against his ministers and there is no “political corruption”, his focus now is to rid of corruption and inefficiency at the officers level.