New Delhi: Appointments of Group A officers from the IAS, IPS, IRS, etc through promotions reduced by more than 50 per cent in the central government between 2016 and 2018.
According to an answer to a question asked in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, the number of appointments made through promotion at the level of deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary was 2,918 in 2018.
The number for 2016 and 2017 was 5,953 and 5,944, respectively, Minister of State Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.
In the Government of India, appointments are largely made through promotions of Group officers drawn from the IAS, IPS etc, although there are direct recruits too, for example, those picked through lateral entry. All the above-mentioned posts, starting from deputy secretary up to secretary, are promotional.
Officials in the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) said the reduction could be a result of ongoing court cases, fewer retirements, etc, but none could explain the decline of over 50 per cent.
There was no reply to text messages sent by ThePrint to the DoPT spokesperson until the time of publishing this report.
A senior official in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which advises the government on promotions of Group A officers, said they approved whatever number of potential appointments they received from the government.
“This (the reduction) can only be explained by the government, since the UPSC does not have the powers to suggest more number of officers for appointment,” the official added.
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Fall steeper among SCs, STs
Among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), the decline since 2016 has been even steeper.
In 2016, 864 SCs were appointed to these positions through promotions, but the number fell by 57 per cent to 373 in 2018.
While the number of STs appointed through promotion was 377 in 2016, the number fell to 157 by 2018 — a decline of 58 per cent.
Former DoPT secretary S.K. Sarkar said all promotions in these positions took place through committees and panels of officers. “If the committee does not meet, there are no promotions,” he added.
“But the normal practice is that you fill up vacancies through promotions as soon as possible,” he said. “This does not seem normal.”
The drastic drop in appointments through promotions comes even as there are massive vacancies in the central government.
According to DoPT data tabled in Parliament, the central government has over 6.83 lakh vacancies.
Even so, the government has also been reducing the number of civil servants being recruited by the UPSC. As reported by ThePrint last month, the UPSC has reduced the number of IAS, IPS and IFS officers to be recruited this year by 100, continuing the trend of picking fewer civil servants each year.
“It is extremely confusing that at a time when there are massive vacancies, neither are more officers being recruited, nor are more officers being promoted,” said an IAS officer who did not want to be named. “How can the vacancies be filled like this?”
The sharp fall in promotions comes at a time when the government is looking to scale up its lateral entry scheme, which seeks to tap private talent for domain expertise. For now, the government is looking to fill up 40 director/deputy secretary level posts through lateral entry.
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Selection of Rajya sabha seats should be from intellectuals and not to support or oil a perticular community as done in Odisha. A third grade notorious criminal has been given ticket bypassing the genuine candidates. Dissatisfaction culminated among party members which may burst like MP.
THE GOVT SHOULD DO MAJOR POLITICAL REFORMS FIXING STRICT NORMS FOR SELECTION OF MLAs AND MPs. THE QUALIFICATION, AGE LIMIT, CLEAN CREDENDENTIAL HAVING NO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND AND NOT CHARGE SHEETED, THE PAST BACKGROUND, EXPERIENCED ETC.
Upper level management buttering the politicians and set the targets. Middle level management knows that targets not possible but say yes to safeguard his chair, they sent it to lower level management.this people are actual workforce which have all the knowledge and practises but rework,and mal practised of above to level never knows the actual problem and it’s remedies
The print ek ghatiya website hai jo hamesha anti india hoti hai, terrorists funded blog hai ye aur Pakistan ki funding aati hai isse ghatiya sale
To konsi hai badhiya
Persons who having knowledge in the subject should be head the department
What is wrong with this theprint media
IAS IPS AND IES People were thinking for there promotion but we people serving in कृषि Vigyan kendras providing realtime service to farmer who were only used during election are worried for differential pay structure for same post it happens only in india- Jai ho
IAS IPS and IES lobby should analyse whole country issues as they believed to be extra very extra ordinary…..
Specialists and domain experts are required. Politicians are generalists. No reason for a Minister to have a generalist bureaucrat advising him. Bureucratic reform must include retraining of the lowest level babu to serve the common citizen and clear the colonial mindset. Freedom to hire and even fire for non performance as in the corporate world is the desirable approach
Mody government is basically anty ias ips . India was prosper most of the time in past but remained slave for two thousand years. Because it didn’t had steel structures. A fragile country had been provided with much needed steel structure by Britishers. Modi government is badly sold in the hands of business man who have no country to serve. For all looting of government Institute’s hard earned money is utilized to serve non performing and dishonest business class. But we should not leave the hope, most of the places this government is losing. We should respect, wait with perseverance and have faith on judgement power of Indiaan voters.
If businesses are corrupt then how many many govt officers caught while taking bribes. Indian peoples donot believe on beurocracy.
Kya koi bata sakta hai kya bole modi ji ne
The discrimination meted out to Gp B n Gp A promottee by Gp A organised services is worse than Discrimination meted out to SC/ST in history. Leadership either don’t understand Cadre system or they don’t care for discrimination in INDIA.
Mere decentralisation of Power from talented and experienced bureaucrats to sycophant private individuals in order to perpetrate the vision of proselytizing India from a socialist democratic republic to a capitalist monarchial republic with democracy as the bogus face of exploitative disguise.
There are few dept in India doing well like army, ISRO. ,As they have less of IAS control.
We need educated people at the top,
I had a boss who knew nothing about my trade, and he would give abrupt instructions and put weird rules…this made the works and projects impossible to finish on time, and pressure of being late is always there.
I wonder when can India have a PhD prime minister again.
We can’t have babies driving cars…can we.
I think lateral entry for these all India services is the need of today. Just look at these people. At Joint Secretary level the officers take things for granted. The government introduced biometric attendance system. It was these senior officers who sabotaged this just because they want to avoid coming to office on time. This is only a sample of what they do in their every day work life. At least younger people with domain knowledge will bring in efficiency and these old people will get more efficient peers. This is a good decision.
Inko chamcha chahiye. Worker & Administrator nahi.
Its so good to watch your concern over IAS, IPS, etc. but have you ever thought of other ranks ? Join as Constable, retire as Constable. What is the average of promotion of other ranks. Build the buildings from the ground level rather than top level.
Why only SC ST data shown here? Talk about drop of open and OBC category also
They are talking about discrimination, it’s worst than the past discrimination for SC/ST’s madam. Hence general data not mentioned. ..
Full of local politics.. And very pressures
Promotional channel for Group B Officers should also be considered for filling top echelon of bureaucracy. This may be done on merit, efficiency and on service record. They lag for decades as group B though possess
the potential for high level posts. Govt. may deliberate on this too.
Lateral entry for specislised nature of post may be useful for better functioning of the govt. deptt. However, for general administrative nature of posts there appears no rationale for non filling of these for a long time. Moreover, do the lateral entry officers delivered the govt. business in better way as compared to the officers promoted from govt. set up,? This required proper and impartial justification.
For benifitting the near and dear ones or for thrir vestrd interest , very sr. officers in the govt. do take such arbitrary decisions or get the approvals from competent authority.
Promotions are kept on hold for an indefinite long time, as no body bothers for sufferings of those who are affected adversly. It is simply said that promotions are held up pendimg the court case and courts also do not bother for long duration of pendency. Govt. is not concerned about productivity, instead manage the work by putting extreme pressure upon the existing and sincere staff. Therefore, it becomes the duty of affected officers/ staff to approach the court of law where the case is pending, for redresal of their greviences.Govt. on their part could frame guidelines for courts to decide such cases within a stipulated time.
This is govt’s total failure. No money, and where all those money gone? Where is the RBI money? Why selling all properties hard earned in last 60 years? If these fools have to blame Congress, then where from those properties, which these looters are selling, come from? Few saddist, power mongers, money laalach persons brain washed the public with racial feelings and captured the Govt and taking our country to peril.
Middle class Youth who risk everything to prepare for civil services after IIT, MBBS from reputable college are not inefficient by design. If government doesn’t train them well promotes Politician Bureaucrat nexus; it is government which is at loss. The IAS remains the job which a person can get by sheer talent rather than connections.
I think if government wants to continue making them scapegoats for politician’s failures and wants to use government money for private people from outside, there are enough opportunity today outside India too. As a youth I do not wish to be part of this blame game rather than work. Good that government is clearly showing it has little large view (reducing investment in education and health)
As a self respecting individual I would rather go for stable career outside India than bootlicking games of crimimalising politics. Only love for fellow citizens still lets me stay motivated for civils. But the overall feel of civils as no bullshit only work is fading.
Patel called civils as steel frame of India, that frame needs people like TN Sheehan, who won’t be allowed to come through lateral entry in the government where election commission is new CBI.
Not only in IAS/IPS, almost all subordinate rank posts are also in the same line. No promotion, extreme working conditions. Depression, anxiety etc are with almost each and every government servants. I don’t know what the government wants to do.
IAS, IPS, IRS are getting regular promotions and get 250% increase in salary within 14 years reaching PB-4+ GP 8700 in 12 years (called JAG NFSG/Director level) although the qualifying service is 14 years. The 6th CPC recmnded this scale at SAG i.e. Joint Secy level i.e. in about 18-20 yrs but this lobby preponed it. Factual position is that other categories in Gr. B have meagure prospects.
Don’t get SC ST into this buisness…the talented people should rise irrespective of caste and creed ,else we will continue to suffer the inefficient people indecisiveness.
Then your saying that SC/ST are inefficient people isn’t it
Precisely, this is mindset of government too, reducing investment in education because SC/ST need state support in education the most. Keep them uneducated, stigmatized. But the OBC is game changer if they wish to. Being 50% of population even PM wants to publicise himself as OBC. They will not let blatant casteism go much far.
That’s the point, the elitist mindset of upper caste limited them to being micro minority when it came to demography. So today they fear speaking their casteism in open, only behind closed doors or anonymous names do they spread it. Keeping SC/ST less educated will only make antagonism for upper castes more emotional and aggressive. Again Upper castes will become blame point if growth story fails despite all former PMs, top bureaucrats being upper caste.
In this case, let lateral entry come, let it come full speed and next election be won by caste calculation. Hope to see no brahmin baniya as lateral entrant. Their casteism will bring a faster end to their domination.
You are saying ‘ no brahmin baniya as lateral entrant’. Are you the malik of India to decide the fate of particular castes. From your words alone it is clear that you are a casteist. If you are so sure about the efficiency of your caste show your worth by competing with general caste people.
Just tell me why do they need concession in marks. Efficient people never need that anywhere in the world.
just tell me why do they need concession in marks?
People who are professionals in their field with proven track record for solving problems and giving direction and acceleration to development should be given opportunity through lateral entry as Intelligence is not monopoly of few people who clear UPSC exams if one things so.
absolutely correct. The opportunity should be open to all so that the most efficient people get in to the system. However, there ought to be an impartial body to evaluate. UPSC is a typical government organisation.
Civil Service reform is highly overdue. So called babus are the principal reason for the pathetic state of basic law & order and non functioning governance at all levels in the country. Hopefully, this will lead to a complete disband in of the IAS, IPS clique. Incompetence is expected of our politicians but much more was expected from these self-serving civil servants.
“Incompetence is expected of politicians” so those incompetent politicians should be allowed to reform Civil service as per their wish make the allegiance based secretariat allocation more clear cut?
Good that lateral entry so far is through UPSC, but UPSC members will become lateral entrants then What?
Politicians are elected by people. Voters have to start taking some responsibility for who they elect. But babus are expected to be educated and competent.
Maybe the PMO has realised that the IAS breed are more so unsympathetic and fail to relate to ground realities of any task since they become bosses early. Again, more so since the power rested to them by constitution, to amend and create posts for themselves has taken them away from realities and made executive class poorly poised. Neither they make decisions nor have acumen to make one. They rely on passing the buck and delay major national issues. Many of them have note even generated proper office notes but have only signed it showing total disconnect to actuals. The slow & failing executioners might have irked PMO forcing them hire professionals at Joint & above secretarial appt. Perfect example is establishment of Department of Military affairs within Ministry of Defence erstwhile poorly managed by IAS officers. Almost jeopardizing nations security. Appreciable.
The person who begins his/her career serving as collector in smallest of distant districts, mostly outside home state lack sympathy? Compared to corporate breed?
Exactly… very much. One cant do justice to a field job of short durations and that too a DC… there is just connect and one requires minimum 5 yrs to get a active feel of a district. I m sure i would have weighed my words before writing. Hence, professionals are welcome.
Domain expertise is very necessary to avoid huge loss of public money by any IAS officer who don’t have technically expert in such subject.
The past cader restructures created more higher posts than necessary and most young got promoted too early. Most of these senior posts are vacant for want of qualifying service.
Let the competent people fill these posts. it does not matter if they come from outside, specially from the private sector.
Sir, No reservations required in promotions …why this stupidity…..Govt. should open eyes then our judiciary…it’s simple for every human…n .Indian….ffi
The reason could be that Mr. Modi wants his people in all the dept.s, not the existing pool of civil services officers who can be and requires to be promoted. He knows that he can not control the central Secretariat like he did the state Secretariat when he was CM in Gujarat. The could also be the reason for creating a PMO full of ex Gujarat state serving and retired IAS officers. Mind you it is not trust issues, but control issues.
Present Governments policy seems to scale down induction of Government talent and scale up entry of private talent in government functioning through lateral entry.
Maybe because they want these posts to be fullfilled through lateral entry. ?
Exactly