Facilitate central deputation of IAS, IPS, IFoS officers: Jitendra Singh to states

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday asked states to facilitate central deputation of officers and follow the practice of cooperative federalism in true letter and spirit.

Addressing the annual conference of principal secretaries of states and Union Territories looking after personnel, general administration and administrative reforms here, he said, it is the responsibility of both the central and the state governments to maintain the all-India character of the service.

“It is also in the interest of the officers to get exposure to a wide range of experiences at the central level, which in turn also has a bearing on their future empanelment or promotion in the career,” said Singh, the minister of state for personnel.

The move assumes significance as the Centre, in 2021, proposed changes to the service rules that seek to empower it to overrule states on matters related to the central deputation of bureaucrats. It also sought comments from the states and Union Territories on it.

States like West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan have objected to the proposed amendments.

Singh urged the state governments to facilitate central deputation of IAS and other all India services officers, a statement issued by the personnel ministry said.

Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) are the three all-India services.

He called for following the practice of cooperative federalism in true letter and spirit.

The minister also asked the director of LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration), Mussoorie, to sensitise, encourage and guide young officers to serve both at the state and central level “as IAS officers are the shared resource between the Centre and the states”.

Singh said, the central deputation is part of the federal structure in the country and urged the state governments to cooperate with the central government to address the concerns in this regard.

He said an all-India service officer is an important interface of the government, both within the state as well as the Centre.

The minister said, the officers of all-India services form the backbone of Indian administration and it is important that concerted efforts are put in by the government of India and the state governments, to achieve the objectives of good governance through the effective implementation of governmental policies and programmes.

Singh said, there is already a laid down structure for cadre management of all India services and the same needs to be followed in letter and spirit.

A particular aspect in this regard is the deployment of the all-India service officers at the Centre, the minister added.

Singh underlined that the central government, with the sole objective of weeding out the deadwood in order to maintain a high standard of efficiency and initiative in the state/Centre, carries out an intensive review of service records of members of the services which have been provided under relevant service rules.

The minister solicited the cooperation of the state governments in completing all such reviews pending with them expeditiously, under intimation to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Dwelling on ‘Mission Karmayogi’, Singh said, to get the best out of a government officer, he or she should be adequately trained and the central government has prepared effective training modules for officers’ training.

He said the central government has also devised a module for state government officials, particularly those working at a cutting-edge level and urged the states to take its full advantage.

Singh said that the central government has taken initiatives to fill all the vacant posts under it in a mission mode and expressed hope that the state governments too would be undertaking similar exercises.

“While getting a government job remains a dream for every aspirant, the aspect of doing the job with integrity and devotion and living up to the expectations of the public attains equal significance, particularly in today’s scenario,” the minister said.

Singh said, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the officers get ample support to experiment with new ideas for policy formulation and added that some of the best innovative pro-people and pro-poor schemes like Swachh Bharat, JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) Trinity, Jal Jeevan, PM Kisan have been formulated since 2014 having a wider socio-economic impact.

He said, with the increased use of technology, transparency in administration has set in and that has led to the abolition of nepotism and vested interests. (PTI)