New Delhi: The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) should incorporate a systematic approach for the lateral entry of private sector-trained personnel into government service ranks, according to former RBI Governor D. Subbarao.
In an interview with ThePrint, Subbarao, who spent about 35 years as an officer in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), said a two-tier system should be adopted in the hiring of civil servants, which should also accommodate stricter punishment for non-performance.
These were among the five reforms he suggested for the IAS. Subbarao’s book on his time in the civil services, titled ‘Just a Mercenary?: Notes from My Life and Career’, was published in April.
“I have in mind a two-tier entry into IAS,” Subbarao said. “One at 25-30 years of age and one when the candidate is 37-42 years. When mid-level candidates, who are within the age bracket of 37-42 years are hired through lateral entry per se, they bring their experience in other fields into the IAS service which is a great benefit.”
He added that in the current system there was not enough encouragement for good performance of civil servants, and not enough penalties for non-performance.
“There should be a system where IAS officers are tested every 10 to 15 years over their career span to see how good they are,” Subbarao said. “And if they are not good enough, either they are given opportunities to improve themselves, or sent away.”
The vacancies created from this weeding out process would create space for the entry of private sector professionals in a systematic manner, he explained.
However, Subbarao did emphasise that these subsequent tests of civil servants should be well-structured to ensure there were “no biases and that it is seen to be fair and unbiased”.
The lateral entry of professionals into the civil services has been a partial strategy of the Narendra Modi government. However, according to Subbarao, the current system only facilitated a “trickle”, whereas he said it should allow a much larger number of lateral entrants under his two-tier framework.
The other reform Subbarao highlighted was to do with recruitment. He highlighted the need for testing administrative capabilities of a person, especially between the age groups of 25 and 30 years. He did note, though, that the current system of admissions has already seen improvements over the years.
“It (the process) is structured more to test the maturity of a candidate’s ability to communicate. It’s certainly improved,” he noted.
Subbarao said that career management was another important aspect of civil services that required change to allow officers to acquire knowledge across sectors in initial years, and then get specialised knowledge relating to areas that matched their personality, skill profile, and track record.
“There’s got to be opportunities for training in service related to the candidate’s personality and skill profile as well as track record and experience,” the former central bank chief said.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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