Upset over the increasing number of complaints from people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally cracked the whip on non-performing bureaucrats. On Thursday the Prime Minister has ordered “strictest action” against the officials responsible, including their sacking. Modi, known as a “man of action”, has been mulling forced retirement of non-performing officials above the age of 50 in a bid to clean up the bureaucracy plagued by red tape. The Prime Minister has sacked a few top bureaucrats for non-performance since his government came to power in 2014. It was in February last that Center had come out with new rules for all-India service officers under the directive non-performers would be asked to pack up after a review on completion of 15 years of service. Earlier, the rules allowed a performance review only after completion of 30 years of qualifying service. The rules are applicable to members of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) among other central services. The new rules give powers to the government to give retirement to these officers in “public interest” after at least 15 years in the job. According to the rules, the Central Government may in consultation with the State Government concerned required a member of the service to retire from service in public interest after the review when such a member completes 15 years of qualifying service. Under the rules, the government must give the member being retired at least three months notice in writing or three months pay and allowances before bidding good bye to him. Non-performing bureaucracy has been the biggest bane of the society. The directive comes at a time when Centre is fast-tracking the appointments for lower and middle rung jobs by abolishing the long and cumbersome process of interviews to streamline the government functioning. A palpable reality for all Indian citizens is the extraordinary power the bureaucracy has over our lives. It is therefore essential for the bureaucracy to function effectively, and for the political executive to get it to do so. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative, Pragati, is a right step in this direction.
