New Delhi: With the Delhi High Court refusing to strike down the Narendra Modi government’s 360-degree review system for senior civil servants, IAS officers feel that they have no recourse left against “arbitrary” appraisals.
Dismissing a review plea filed by a senior IAS officer, who was rejected for empanelment as additional secretary and secretary thrice, the high court had last month observed that the guidelines framed by the Centre for the 360-degree review system or Multi-Source Feedback (MSF) were not illegal.
While the senior IAS officer who had filed the case had challenged the guidelines for not being made public, a bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Talwant Singh had noted that the guidelines were framed to “aid the CoS/EPC (Committee of Secretaries/ Empanelment Committee) in carrying out their tasks, their use for arriving at a decision cannot be said to be illegal”.
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A contentious system
Instituted in 2015, the 360-degree review system sought to change the way civil servants are chosen to the two senior-most positions in the government — the ranks of secretary and additional secretary.
Under this system, a committee of experts collects feedback about a candidate, through the phone, from anonymous “stakeholders” that includes their senior and junior colleagues, peers. It also takes feedback from people outside the government, on a prescribed form.
While the stated objective of the system is to make the evaluation of civil servants more comprehensive, it has been challenged several times by officers who have called the process opaque and vulnerable to misuse.
When contacted by ThePrint, the senior IAS officer who had challenged the system in the court refused to comment on the judgment. In his plea, the officer had argued that he was rejected for empanelment on the basis of MSF guidelines that were never made public, thereby making the decision to reject him arbitrary.
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‘Several officers have suffered’
A senior IAS officer, who is part of the UP IAS Association, said several officers have “suffered” since the government brought in this “opaque” process of empanelment, but there is no recourse that officers have in the face of this “arbitrary mechanism”.
“Through this one move, the government ensured that anyone can be rejected on any grounds… This system is especially discriminatory for those from SC/ST communities or those who question (the government) in the slightest way,” the officer said.
Last year, the UP IAS Association had passed a resolution urging the central government to make the evaluation process less opaque, and make the process of empanelment of IAS officers for central deputation more transparent.
Speaking to ThePrint, the association’s chairman Pravir Kumar had said: “It is a very non-transparent process, which goes against the principle of natural justice because no officer knows why they are being empanelled or rejected.”
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Parliamentary panels back officers’ stand
In 2017, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice had also called the 360-degree system “opaque, non-transparent and subjective”.
Questioning the legal tenability of the system, the committee had then said, “Acting on feedback so received puts the concerned officer in a disadvantageous position as the remedies available to him in case his annual appraisal report has not been written objectively are not available to him in this process. Acting on such feedback behind the back of the officer may not be legally tenable.”
This year too, the parliamentary committee had noted that the “feedback in this process is obtained informally leaving it susceptible to manipulations”.
“The committee observes that the feedback received from subordinates and stakeholders may sometimes be biased and can lack objectivity, particularly if the officer had an occasion to discipline his subordinate or he was unable to meet the unjustified demands of the stakeholders,” the report presented in Rajya Sabha Friday said.
“The committee recommends that the government should take steps to ensure that such biased feedback is not relied upon in order that honest and deserving civil servants are not victimised,” it added.
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Things are rotten if a chaiwala teaches IAS officers how to administer in a central government.
Justice was not prevailing in the past, is not prevailing in the present, it will never prevail in the future.
From the time of creation of Creatures, the FITTEST has survived.
FITTEST, means…..a lot. It may be in terms of MUSCLE POWER, INTELLIGENCE POWER, POLITICAL POWER, SELF-PUBLISHING POWER.
So any NEW RULE is no exception to it. Irrespective of any Rule, the UNFIT/MISFIT/INNOCENT one will suffer. Good performance or bad performance is/was never a FACTOR in deciding one’s promotion.
It has worked well in keeping out the corrupt and inefficient officers. Intially it worked well when Dr P K Mishra had absolute freedom in this process. But then some undesirable elements got empanelled obviously due to political interference. The process got tainted a bit due to this. Still 90% ok.
No matter what system you make, there will be subjectivity and corruption. Systems cannot make the society honest, fair, and objective. The rat race will always exist. Example:
In the USA, one CEO advertised for a lady P.A. The personnel deptt. made elaborate arrangements and interviewed hundreds of ladies and sent the final selected name to the CEO. The CEO said, ” To hell with your selection process! I want the lady with long legs.”
After serving in a PSU for over 36 yrs. , I have seen how corrupt officers rise. This is no new phenomenon. It has always been like that. No wonder, even Shakespeare has succintly said, ” Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.”
It’s politicians who really needs 360 degree review.hope it’s applicable to them also one day.
360degree isn’t good in India at least.Look Muslims nations donot like Modi, like Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Malaysia. So in 360 if majority are ones from this hate group than will their views on modi be correct which Indians may differ totally on it. So friends it depends? Whose majority is there in the feedback group? This group may even be of one caste, irrespective of region they belong to, which again can be biased?Also what’s nature of majority in feedback group? They may hate modi & can vote against? But others from neutral group who are not extremes may like him? So majority in group matters?
Really a great initiative by modi government.
Good move .every one should be held accountable and answerable whether they are I AS officer’s or politicians .
What is right what’s wrong, can’t say? Situational?. If your performance is good but others around are against You, your caste, your nature, your work, then its doom. India unlike foreign having several language, caste system personally this 360 degree philosophy cannot work here because of Lots of differences here.
I fully agree with our that everybody for every act of his / her should be accountable. But the mute question is how an officer is rated ? What is the procedure laid down which is time tested and subjected to principles of natural justice ? No procedure should be arbitrary or manipulative in nature. Example : when you take random question and answers over phone from a person who is absolutely unconnected ,what type of feed can be expected ? This is not done.
It is time to completely shut down the IAS- IPS nautanki the country has endured since independence. They are a blot and drain on the country. Let’s replace them with more accountable local level governance.
Good IAS is the legacy left by British. All they do is to create hurdles .red tape is rampant in department.
In a country like India which has so much diversity, languages, castes, which is good at one end can be disadvantage when comes to 360review. As Indians are biased in one or the other way, some may be jealous to a particular castes, towards nature of person, towards his abilities, and hence depends if it’s not cosmopolitan place, it may definitely lead to issues.Also depends what majority people in 360degree feedback backgrounds Are? Are they of same caste, here even regional difference may not matter and can be biased towards one category of people.
IAS are opaque to public and condescending it i sin fitness the appraisals should be confidential . otherwise open appraisal may result reprisal as often happens in IAS bonehomm .. Good Modi ji witness should be protected
My sympathies with these poor IAS guys. I am reminded of that blot on the phrase “CJI” Ranjan Gogoi who gave a “clean chit” to the brazen loot by Narendra Modi in the shape of the Rafale deal. I don’t care if 30000 crores went to Modi’s own pocket or to his fraud friend Anil Ambani’s – – an equivalent amount of “ego satisfaction” DID GO INTO MODI’S POCKET. This is called “gratification in kind”. This too is corruption. Poor Prashant Bhushan hasn’t been able to come out of the shock until now, because I haven’t seen that very decent human being and very conscientious lawyer so quiet as he is now. Our IAS friends shouldn’t despair. This night will pass. And so will all the knights of this night.