Question : Reforms in Bureaucracy

(a) whether the Government plans to reform the bureaucracy which is long overdue and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether lateral entry in bureaucracy has taken place earlier also, if so, the details thereof and the reasons for lateral entry at this stage;
(c) whether the move of the Government for lateral entry into senior positions will demoralise the civil servants, if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto; and
(d) whether the Government proposes to extend lateral entry in Government run educational institutions also and if so, the details thereof ?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House.



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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN THE REPLY TO THE PARTS (A) TO (D) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 108 FOR ANSWER ON 25.07.2018 RAISED BY SHRIMATI SAJDA AHMED, MP AND SHRI PRASUN BANERJEE, MP REGARDING “REFORMS IN BUREAUCRACY”.

(a): In keeping with the principle of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’, the Government has taken several measures to reform bureaucracy. Issue of provisional appointment orders on receipt of duly filled attestation form and self declaration by candidates pending police verification of character and antecedents, streamlining the system of posting at senior levels with due regard to integrity and merit, strengthening performance appraisal system of civil servants, strengthening of vigilance system, amendment of All India Services (Disciplinary and Appeal) Rules to provide for specific ‘timeline’ for completing enquiry against officers of All India Service(AIS) in a time bound manner and adequate safeguard against arbitrary suspension of All India Service (AIS) officers, discontinuation of interviews for lower level posts, removing dead-wood from bureaucracy (i.e. those found ineffective and non-performing are to be compulsorily retired), are some of the reforms made in the recent time.

(b) & (c): Some prominent persons have been appointed earlier also on lateral entry basis to man specific assignments from time to time. This includes among others, appointment of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Shri Vijay Kelkar, Shri Bimal Jalan, Shri Shankar Acharya, Shri Rakesh Mohan, Shri Arvind Virmani, Shri Arvind Panagariya, Shri Arvind Subramanian and Shri Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Shri Parameswaran Iyer and Shri Ram Vinay Shahi. No adverse effect on the morale of the civil servants has resulted from lateral recruitments.

NITI Ayog in its three year Action Agenda 2017-18 to 2019-20 has also highlighted that it is essential that specialists be inducted in to the system through lateral entry on fixed term contract. The Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) submitted a report in February, 2017 in which it has inter alia been observed that there is shortage of officers at the Joint Secretary/Director/Deputy Secretary Level, due to reduction in recruitment in the Service during 1995-2002. Based on the recommendation of SGoS, Government has decided to undertake lateral recruitment of ten Joint Secretaries on contract basis in order to achieve the twin objectives of bringing in fresh talent as well as augment the availability of manpower.

(d): The entry in Government run educational cadre at Asstt/Associate/Professor is open to all individuals who are fulfilling the required eligibility criteria independent of whether the person is currently within the educational institution or not.


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