PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Friday, August 23, 2019

Service Profile of an IAS Officer - By JagranJosh

Recruitment:

Civil servants are the permanent bureaucracy in India forms an inseparable part of the executive branch of the Government of India, thus providing continuity to the administration. They hold key and strategic positions in the Union Government, States and public-sector undertakings.

At present, there are three modes of recruitment to IAS:

• Through the Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC every year;
• Through promotion of State Civil Service officers to IAS; and
• Through the selection of non - State Civil Service officers.

Roughly 66 (1/3%) posts are meant for Direct Recruitment and 33 (1/3%) posts are meant for promotion quota.
Direct recruit IAS officers are allocated to State cadres/ Joint State Cadres on the basis of their rank, preference and availability of vacancy.

Most IAS officers start their careers in the state administration at the sub-divisional level as a sub-divisional magistrate. They are entrusted with the law and order situation of the city along with general administration and development work of the areas under their charge.

Designations held by IAS officers during field posting are as follows:

1)    SDO/SDM/Joint Collector/ Chief Development Officer (CDO)
2)    District Magistrate/District Collector/Deputy Commissioner
3)    Divisional Commissioner
4)    Member Board of Revenue
5)    Chairman of Revenue

Besides the above-mentioned posts, a lAS officer can be appointed in autonomous organisations/subordinate organisations/PSUs/UN Organizations/international organisations like the World Bank, Asian development banks in various capacities. They can also serve as Personal Secretaries to Ministers in Central Government. There is provision for deputation of lAS officers to private organisations also for a fixed tenure.

Grade & Position held under the State Government Or Central Government

The following table shows the Positions held by an IAA officer under the State Government and central Government with respect to the grade of service and years in service.

Grade & Position held under the State Government Or Central Government

Junior Time Scale (Initial Year)	Sub-Divisional Magistrate in a sub-division of a district/Section Officer in state secretariat (Entry) /Assistant Director to Government of India.
Senior Time Scale (4th year)	Additional District Magistrate/Additional Collector/Additional Deputy Commissioner of a District or Under Secretary in the State Government.
Junior Administrative Grade (6th year)	District Magistrate/Collector/Deputy Commissioner of a District or Additional Secretary in the State government or Joint Director/Deputy Secretary to the Government of India.
Selection Grade (10th year)	District Magistrate/Collector/Deputy Commissioner of a District or Special Secretary in the State government or Director in the Government of India.
Super Time Scale (17th year)	Divisional Commissioner in a division or Secretary in the State government or Joint Secretary to Government of India.
Above Super Time Scale (24th year)	Principal Secretary in the State Government or Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
Apex Scale (31st year)	Chief Secretary of States or Secretary to Government of India.
Cabinet Secretary Grade (35th year)	Cabinet Secretary of India (Only one post).

**The posts may differ from state to state due to local administrative reasons

The highest ranking civil servant is the Cabinet Secretary. He is ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board; the chief of the Indian Administrative Service and head of all civil services under the rules of business of the Government of India. He also holds the 11th position in the Order of Precedence of India which is a great honour in itself. The position holder is accountable for ensuring that the Civil Service is equipped with the skills and capability to meet the everyday challenges it faces and that civil servants work in a fair and decent environment.

Designations during Posting in Secretariat of State Government/ Central Government

An IAS Officer may hold various posts at different levels as under:-

**Posts held by IAS Officer**
Sl. No.	Designation	Remarks
1.	Under Secretary in Government of India	Gets Senior Time Scale (PB-3 with Rs 6600 Grade Pay) after completion of four years of service.
2.	Deputy Secretary in Government of India	Gets Junior Administrative Grade (PB-3 with Rs 7600 Grade Pay) after completion of 9 years of service
3.	Director in Government of India	Gets Selection Grade (PB-4 with Rs 8700 Grade Pay) after completion of 13 years of service.
4.	Joint Secretary to Government of India / Secretary in State Government	Gets Super time Scale (PB-4 with Rs 10000 Grade Pay) after completion of 16 years of service.
5.	Additional Secretary in Government of India / Principal Secretary in State Government	Gets Higher Administrative Grade after completion of 25 years of service.
6.	Secretary to Government of India / Chief Secretary	Gets Apex Scale (Rs 80000 fixed) after completion of 30 years of service.
7.	Cabinet Secretary	90000 fixed

Procedures Governing Promotion

In the career span of an IAS officer he is eligible for raise in salary and promotions. The promotions take place after evaluating the performance on the basis of Performance Appraisal Reports, vigilance clearance and scrutiny of overall record of the officers concerned by following laid down procedures. The scrutiny for promotion is done by a Committee of senior civil servants constituted for the purpose. Promotions are dependent on the time period spent by an officer in a particular grade. Specified number of years of service is a pre-requisite to be eligible for promotion. These time-bound promotions have been envisaged to attract and retain the best talent in the country.

Assessment of Suitability for Promotion & Posting

For posting, promotion and manning of posts held in the Centre and State Government and in order to judge their suitability for various assignments, on annual basis, performance of each and every officer is captured through an instrument of Performance Appraisal known as Performance Appraisal Report i.e., PAR. This report is initiated by the officer himself, listing out the various achievements and completion of activities with reference to targets assigned to him and mutually agreed upon and this report is written and commented by the next immediate officer and further reviewed by the officer higher in hierarchy than the Reporting Officer. For All India Services, there is one more authority who accepts the PAR reported and reviewed by the Reporting Officer and Reviewing Officer.

The functions of an IAS Officer broadly include;

1) Collection of revenue and function as Courts in revenue matters;

2) Maintenance of law and order,

3) function as Executive Magistrate,

4) function as Chief Development Officer (CDO) /District Development Commissioner,

5) supervision of implementation of policies of the State Government and Central Government,

6) travel to places to oversee implementation of policies and supervision of expenditure of public funds as per norms of financial propriety.

7) Moreover, an IAS officer has a crucial role to play in the process of policy formulation and decision making as at various levels like Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary they give final shape to policies.

8) To handle the daily affairs of the government, including framing and implementation of policy in consultation with the minister-in-charge of the concerned Ministry;

In any democracy, Ministers or the member of parliaments are responsible to the people through Parliament and the civil servants have to be accountable to the Minister. Hence, an unbiased civil service is responsible not only to the government of the day, but to the Constitution of the land to which they have taken an oath of devotion.

They also handle the daily affairs of the government, including framing and implementation of policy in consultation with the minister-in-charge of the concerned Ministry. Civil Servants have the constitutional mandate to advice the political executives.

Broadly speaking, an IAS officer is responsible for maintenance of law and order, revenue administration and general administration in the area under him. The major reason of having a permanent lobby of bureaucrats is that they act as an intermediate between public and government by good execution and deliverance skills.

Regulations Governing IAS

IAS officers are regulated through different All India Services Rules such as AIS (Conduct) Rules, 1968, AIS (PAR) Rules, 2007, AIS (DCRB) Rules, 1958, AIS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, AIS (Pay) Rules, 2007 etc. which are made under the powers conferred by the All India Services Act, 1951.

Content courtesy: https://www.jagranjosh.com/articles/designations-held-by-an-ias-officer-1483618527-1

https://www.jagranjosh.com/articles/service-profile-of-an-ias-officer-1551787205-1

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Reform Suggestions for Minimum Bureaucracy By Major General Mrinal Suman in Swarajya Magazine

A bureaucracy free to expand itself turns ‘minimum government’ into a pipe dream.

Minimum government refers to a state or practice wherein the people are subjected to minimum official intrusions, thereby allowing them to pursue their objectives with least intercessions and restrictions. On the other hand, maximum governance implies creation of an enabling environment through a transparent, stable and liberal policy regime for smooth development of social, economic and human aspirations.

Minimum government entails maximising productivity of the government while minimising its size: it is the quality of the government machinery that matters and not its magnitude. In fact, larger the government, more intense is the administrative tyranny. In addition to lack of accountability and reduced efficiency, large administrative set-ups are a drain on the exchequer as they consume considerable resources in salaries, perks and pensions. Therefore, trimming of the administration is a prerequisite for achieving the goal of minimum government. In this context, the performance of the present government has been rather dismal.

Unwieldy and Top Heavy:

A number of ministries are superfluous and redundant. They need to be abolished. In addition, many ministries having analogous functions are working at cross purposes in watertight compartments, thereby losing synergy and productivity.

The same applies to the bureaucracy. “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy” is an old adage. Each ministry/department is overpopulated with secretaries and additional secretaries. There are close to 100 secretary-level officers working at the centre. Some ministries like the Home, Defence, Finance and Foreign Affairs have multitude of secretaries and additional secretaries. Most appointments have been upgraded without any justification. As the job content has not changed materially, functioning has become sluggish.

The whole bureaucratic set-up is highly bloated. Many departments hardly deserve secretaries at the helm. Take the case of the Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare. It is manned by one secretary and two joint secretaries whereas a single joint secretary can easily handle the work. Emergence of multiple tiers has increased paper work. Since every link in the chain wants to justify its existence, decision making has becomes a casualty.

Since the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is considered to be the trend setter, other services follow suit. As pay scales decide, among other things, parity of appointments, there is competition amongst all the services to create maximum number of senior appointments. In several cases, indulgent political leadership has upgraded tens of appointments in a single stroke without any organisational considerations.

Some states have dozens of directors general of police (DGP). It needs to be recalled here that undivided Punjab used to have one inspector general (IG) of police and a few deputy inspector generals. Today, each part (Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) has a glut of DGPs, Additional DGPs and IGs. State governments upgrade multiple appointments en-masse to accommodate chosen incumbents without job considerations. One DGP may be asked to look after the purchase of 100 computers, the second one assigned the task of purchasing furniture and yet the third one may be overseeing police lines. The same is true of the central police forces and the para-military forces. Proliferation of top brass has been of ridiculous proportions.

With a view to retain parity, the defence forces have also resorted to making a large number of senior appointments. All higher headquarters have become highly top-heavy and overstaffed. A job done earlier by a brigadier is being carried out by a lieutenant general now. Further, he has a major general as his deputy and two to three brigadiers to head different sections. Thus, a brigadier has been substituted by two general officers and two/three brigadiers. By rampant proliferation of top brass, the services are harming their own cause.

Cadre Review

Cadre review is a much abused stratagem. Every cadre review results in swelling of the higher hierarchy. As per the monograph issued by the Department of Personnel and Training – “The main purpose of a cadre review is to restructure a cadre in such a way as to remove the deficiencies which might be existing at the time of the constitution of a service or have crept in subsequently and ensure that the cadre structure satisfies the functional, structural and personnel considerations.”

Further, the monograph states that a cadre review provides an opportunity to overcome various bottlenecks, remove existing distortions and bring about rationalisation of cadre structure. Quoted objectives include estimation of future manpower requirements, planning recruitments, and restructuring the cadre with a view to harmonise the functional needs with the legitimate career expectations of its members to enhance the effectiveness of the service.

Two points need to be flagged here. One, the personnel aspect is secondary to functional and structural aspects. It implies that organisational interests remain the supreme concern and cannot be sacrificed for the sake of personal ambitions. Two, career expectations and aspirations of the members must be legitimate. It is a totally illogical and absurd demand that every member should rise to the top. All services have pyramid-like structures, albeit some are steeper than others but the posts at the top are limited.

Cadre review of Group ‘A’ Services is undertaken every five years. Unfortunately, instead of managing the cadre to suit the changing organisational requirements, cadre review has come to be identified with the sole objective of upgrading maximum number of posts in the service. It is a single point agenda. Other important aspects like training of the functionaries receive little attention. Worse, upgradation of posts is neither need-based nor warranted. On the contrary, it leads to serious functional distortions and makes the service dysfunctional, while causing immense drain on the exchequer. Regrettably, for the beneficiary functionaries, self-interest takes precedence over ethics, probity and righteousness.

Non Functional Upgrade Scheme:

Bureaucracy has the flair for inventing ingenious ways to feather its own nest, without any pangs of conscience. The Non Functional Upgrade (NFU) scheme is a brainchild of the bureaucracy’s selfish superciliousness. The stated purpose of NFU is to ‘alleviate stagnation in the civil services’. There is no international precedent for such a scheme. The NFU is a malady of epidemic proportions and has the potential of plaguing all organs of the state and devouring them to hollowness. It totally disregards the basic tenets of financial prudence, organisational hierarchy and responsible governance.

The NFU scheme implies that whenever any IAS officer of a particular batch is promoted to a specific grade pay in pay bands PB-3 or PB-4, grant of higher pay scale on non-functional basis should be granted to the officers belonging to batches of 49 ‘Organised Central Group A Civil Services’ senior by two years. NFU is presently available up to the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) level.

For better understanding, let us take the following example. If an officer of the 1999 batch of IAS is appointed as joint secretary in the Centre, then all officers of the 1997 and earlier batches, who have not so far been promoted to that particular grade, would be granted the same grade on a nonfunctional basis from the date of posting of the 1999 batch officer as joint secretary.

The domino effect of such a devious scheme is already discernible. To start with, NFU was meant only for 49 ‘Organised Central Group A Civil Services’. However, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service were soon added to the list of the beneficiaries. NFU undermined the status of the defence forces and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) with disastrous effect. Citing higher pay scales under NFU, most civilian officials refused to obey their senior uniformed officers.
The armed forces and CAPFs felt aggrieved and approached the courts for justice. In September 2015, the Delhi High Court declared CAPFs as organised services, thereby entitling them to financial benefits under NFU. The armed forces appealed to the principal bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in New Delhi and obtained a favourable verdict in December 2016.

Mala fide schemes like NFU tend to acquire epidemical characteristics. As stagnation impacts all, NFU may soon afflict other government services as well. In addition, demand will also be raised to apply NFU to HAG and Apex scales as well. Stagnation at HAG will be the brazen excuse. It is indeed a chaotic and scary scenario.

The NFU delinks promotions from career progression, thereby completely abolishing the merit-based selection system. Financial remunerations must relate to the job responsibilities, span of control and challenges of decision making. The pay cannot be delinked from the job being performed, with officers claiming entitlement to higher pay scales without performing the corresponding functions. NFU is damaging the structural edifice of all services. Through promotions to entire batches, it is bloating the central services and making them more cylindrical in nature.

The Way Forward:

The use of technology to monitor the functioning of the bureaucracy and to keep a check on the movement of files is a significant step. However, far more stringent measures are needed to achieve the objective of minimum government. Here are some suggestions:-

• Amalgamation of analogous ministries to ensure synergy in functioning. Abolition of superfluous ministries and departments.

• Reduction in the strength of the council of ministers. A number of ministers of state can be assigned to each cabinet minister to share the workload.

• No ministry should have more than one secretary. Departments can be headed by additional secretaries and joint secretaries.

• No state should have more than one DGP. There should be a cap on the number of ADGPs and IGs that a police force can have.

• The number of top level posts in the central police forces and the paramilitary forces should be drastically curtailed.

• The armed forces must revert back to the old time-tested pyramidical structure. The number of appointments of general officers must be radically reduced.

• Scrap NFU for all services. NFU is a nefarious master stroke in skulduggery, which only the Indian bureaucracy can be expected to devise. It is an open loot of the nation by a scheming and unethical bureaucracy.

It is a well-known principle that ‘work expands so as to keep the expanding bureaucracy occupied’. It is a vicious cycle. And, expanding work is antithesis of minimum government. Therefore, trimming the bureaucracy (including the top brass of the uniformed forces) is an inescapable requirement. Understandably, it is a tall order. But then, reforms can never be initiated by the weak. Only a bold and dynamic leadership can stem the rot created by this hydra-headed administrative monster. Or else, minimum government will remain a pipe dream.

The author commanded his regiment in the Kargil-Siachen sector and was the Task Force Commander at Pokharan for sinking shafts for the nuclear tests. He is a prolific writer and is considered to be the foremost expert on myriad aspects of India’s defence industry, procurement regime and offsets.

Article Courtesy: https://swarajyamag.com/magazine/unless-modi-reins-in-ever-expanding-bureaucracy-minimum-government-will-remain-a-pipe-dream