News: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) wrote to the States on 12th Jan 22 that the Union Government proposes to amend Rule 6 (Deputation of cadre officers) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954. The proposed rules will provide overriding powers to the Union Government to transfer IAS and IPS officers for Central deputation. At least six State governments have written to the DoPT opposing any such move.
Base material
(1) The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is the cadre controlling authority for the Officers of the Indian Administrative Service. The same role is played by the Police Division in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) with respect to the Officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) respectively;
(2) Under the Rule 6(1) of the IAS Cadre Rules, 1954, an officer may be deputed for service under the Central Government or another State Government with the concurrence of the State Government(s) and the Central Government;
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(3) In case of disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and State Governments shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government;
(4) The Central (DoPT) and State Governments coordinate to effect the deputation process including seeking nominations from States, scrutiny of applications, and making offers for deputation. State Governments relieve the officers called for deputation after officers’ concurrence;
(5) States have to depute All India Services (AIS) officers, including the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, to the Central government offices and at any point, deputation cannot be more than 40% of the total cadre strength of the state
Section updated on – 15th Feb 22
Proposed amendments to Rule 6 of IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954 (deputation of cadre officers) – Last updated on 25th Jan 22
“Rules for a Civil Service” – Times of India – 25th Jan
Four amendments have been proposed to Rule 6 of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954
(1) If the State Government does not relieve the State Cadre officer within the specified time, the officer shall automatically stand relieved from the date specified by the Central Government. At present, the State Government provides no-objection clearance to the Officer before relieving;
(2) The Centre Government will decide the number of officers to be deputed in consultation with the State Government;
(3) In case of dispute, the State Government has to give effect to the decision of the Central Government within a specified time. In the existing rules, no time limit has been stipulated to effect the decision;
(4) In specific situations where services of cadre officers are required by the Central Government in ‘public interest’, the State shall give effect to its decisions within a specified time.
Why did the center proposed the amendments to the deputation of cadre officers? – last updated on 28th Jan 22
Points from Epic magazine – updated – till 28th Jan
States are not fulfilling their obligation to depute adequate number of Officers to the Centre e.g., only 5.9% of the officers from UP were on deputation while the corresponding proportion was 6.2% for Tamil Nadu, 13% for Bihar, 13.9% for Odisha and 16% for Kerala. The Central Deputation Reserve (CDR) utilisation has gone down from 25% in 2011 to 18% in 2021. This causes gap in cadre management.
Rules for a Civil Service – Times of India – 25th Jan 2022
Duty of AIS Officers: IAS officers are recruited, appointed, and trained by the central government and allotted to various state cadres. But IAS officers are mandated to serve not only the state cadre to which they belong but also the central government whenever they are called upon to do so.
Government Authority: the central government has the ultimate authority in matters relating to the service conditions. The state governments also have a participating role in these matters by way of the relevant rules.
Top level vacancies in central government: Senior positions in the central government from the level of deputy secretary/ director to the secretary are manned by IAS officers on central deputation and officers from other services for their domain knowledge.
Fall in the number of officers volunteering: there is a steep fall in the number of officers going on central deputation, from 69% of the mandated reserves in 2014 to 30% in 2021.
Why are the reasons given by states for opposing the amendments? – last updated on 25th Jan 22
Rules for a Civil Service – Times of India – 25th Jan 2022.
One, states should be consulted to make any drastic changes in the rules to ensure effective governance and cooperative federalism.
Two, officers of the IAS are under the dual control of the state governments and the central government, as the latter is their appointing authority.
Three, the scheme and structure of the IAS are based on sharing of power in order to enable both the Centre and states to utilize the officers’ services.
Fourth, grassroots-level administration remains with the states. Hence, any arbitrary and sudden transfers of officers from the states to the Centre will undermine governance in the state.
Fifth, states consider it as an infringement of the right to govern through their institutions of governance
Why there’s a decline/shortage of officers for central deputation? – last updated on 15th Feb 22
“Incorrect diagnosis, wrong remedy” – The Hindu – 15th Feb 2022.
Annual recruitment of IAS officers after 1991: There was a drastic reduction in the annual recruitment of IAS officers after 1991 (from 140-160 to just 50-80). This was due to a misguided notion, that the government will have a reduced role because of the economic liberalisation. It didn’t happen. It took nearly 20 years for the Centre to restore the annual recruitment to pre-1991 levels. Presently, the shortage of IAS officers at the all-India level was 23%.
Cadre review: Centre and the States jointly conduct exercises to designate certain strategic posts in the States as “cadre posts” and earmark them exclusively for IAS officers. There is a need for proper cadre review in all the States to release many IAS officers from non-strategic posts and reduce the shortage. For instance: In Tamil Nadu, it is unfair that posts like Commissioner of Archaeology, and Commissioner of Museums has been designated as cadre posts.
Discontinuance of direct recruitment of officers: Direct recruitment of officers to the Central Secretariat Service Group B has been discontinued since 2000. Also, there are undue delays in the regular promotions of officers from the ranks in the Central Secretariat due to protracted litigation since 2011.
Non-utilisation of the services: Centre is not utilizing the services of officers who are appointed to the IAS by promotion or selection from the State Civil Services. This large pool of around 2,250 officers, usually in the age bracket of 35-55 years, who have immense field experience, remains State-bound.
Numerous administrative barriers: Centre has imposed numerous administrative barriers to Central deputation in the form of highly restrictive conditions, annual lapsing of offer lists, long debarment periods, compulsory cooling-off periods, etc.
“Finding a way to share IAS officers” – Indian Express – 28th Jan
1) Inadequate recruitment, 2) Comparatively better service conditions in the states generally, of the total cadre strength of the states, about 25-30% used to be on central deputation. But presently, less than 10% are working in various central ministries. According to reports, in states like UP, Bihar, Odisha Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, the number is between 8-15%.
What steps should both center-state initiate to work in harmony? – last updated on 15th Feb 22
“Incorrect diagnosis, wrong remedy” – The Hindu – 15th Feb 2022
Recruitment of state officers: There is a need to make mandatory provisions for the state officers to work for at least two years on Central deputation as Deputy Secretaries/Directors immediately after their appointment to the IAS and their training in Mussoorie. Their next promotion in their State cadre should be accordingly to the completion of this mandatory period of Central deputation. This can solve the problem of shortage of Deputy Secretary/Director-level officers at the Centre in one stroke.
Mandatory provisions: It should be made mandatory for directly recruited IAS officers to serve at least three years on Central deputation between nine and 25 years of service. Their promotion to Principal Secretary grade in their State cadre (usually after 25 years) should be subject to their completing this mandatory period of Central deputation.
Selection of officers: The centre is being criticised for adopting opaques measures in the selection of IAS officers for the posts of Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary and Secretary. The centre should adopt a fair process and similar measures as it chooses Deputy Secretaries/Directors.
The centre can solve the problem by holding constructive dialogue with the respective states. The Inter-State Council constituted under Article 263 of the Constitution is the institution meant specifically for handling such Centre-State situations.
Rules for a Civil Service – Times of India – 25 Jan
First, there is a need to review the conditions of service in the Centre and their standards, which has made central deputation a less attractive option.
Second, other issues like selection systems at higher levels and uncertainty regarding tenures of service for IAS officers on central deputation shall be re-examined.
Third, the solution to this problem lies in Cooperative federalism. The consultation process should include the officers to decide whether the proposed amendments are in the right direction. It should all be done without undermining the authority and functional efficiency and causing undue distress to officers.
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