Way to go
In one fell sweep, three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers have been compulsorily retired for an unsatisfactory service record. This could well be the thin end of the wedge, if the trend catches on. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has given marching orders to two senior IAS officers in the state — Dr Desh Deepak (1983 batch) and Vijender Kumar (1987 batch). The third IAS babu to be sent packing is Shalini Vashishth of the Tamil Nadu cadre.
According to babu-watchers, these decisions were taken after the two state governments sought permission from the Department of Personnel and Training for compulsorily retiring these babus. The final decision, apparently, was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which found merit in the reports submitted by the state governments. The move has undoubtedly warned incompetent IAS babus that they can no longer take their sarkari kursi for granted.
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A little too late
Uttar Pradesh has faced a babu crunch for long. Now, six years after the last induction, the state is poised to promote 100 provincial service officers to the state cadre of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). The delay in their induction was due to delayed cadre reviews and a writ filed by some Provincial Civil Services (PCS) babus with the Central Administrative Tribunal. Apparently, the departmental promotion committee, comprising state chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta and representatives of the state personnel department, has completed the formalities and a notification will be issued soon.
Surprisingly, not many PCS babus are pleased with the prospect of promotion to the coveted IAS cadre since they are on the verge of retirement. At least 10 babus are already in the pay scale of principle secretary while 65 babus are in the secretary pay scale. Clearly, for these babus the promotion has come a tad too late.
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Kabul calling
The government is planning to send babus on deputation to war-torn Afghanistan under a United Nations programme to mentor Afghan civil servants. And to lure candidates for this challenging assignment, Bharat sarkar is offering an “attractive” remuneration package — at least four times the monthly salary drawn by the Cabinet Secretary! Since the period of deputation is nearly a year, it could help the chosen babus build up a neat nest egg!
A government circular inviting applications from interested candidates has generated considerable excitement in babudom. However, only babus with at least a decade in the civil service will be eligible to apply for this assignment. Will the initial excitement and the financial “sops” lure my favourite tribesmen to tread in “hot” terrain? Watch this space for updates.
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