The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), responsible for recruiting manpower for government departments and taking decisions on postings, deputations, promotions as well as transfers on deputation, has decided to take up its job more seriously. As a result, it has now asked more than 70 Central government departments to rectify the shortcomings they are facing on granting promotions, nudging them to move on the fast track.
The babus at the department of personnel and training (DoPT) have pointed out that the commission has already brought down the number of call book cases — relating to recruitment which have been pending for more than two years — from 31 in April to 23 by September 1. But out of these, the court has ordered a stay on 23 cases and the ministry has opted to withdraw its request for recruitment in four cases. For the remaining three, the commission is still trying to get answers on why there is a delay in matters such as promotion and deputation — a question the UPSC has often asked but got no response on.
Babu watchers claim that the commission has completed at least one round of meetings with each of the 72 departments. But will UPSC’s efforts yield fruits this time? Can babus, who are due for promotions, expect their files to move faster?
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Post makeover
Your friendly neighbourhood post office may soon get a makeover. Having fallen on hard times in recent years, the postal babus have decided to reinvent themselves. To begin with, post offices in the country will also begin dispensing essential over-the-counter drugs along with the usual stamps and envelopes. According to reliable sources, a pilot project is already underway in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Apparently, pharma companies are as excited about the proposal as the postal authorities.
Moreover, the humble postmen too will be expanding his core competence skills of collecting and delivering letters. The government has woken up to the idea that they can be of immense utility in collecting data on consumer prices to help the government track inflation. In fact, statistics and programme implementation secretary Pronab Sen wants all states to develop a new set-up for collecting data on index of industrial production, gross domestic product and a host of economic and social sectors like health, education and water supply.
All these measures are in addition to the postal department’s landmark decision to do away with the existing postal index (PIN) whose code system is primarily based on delivery post office (DPO), and not on geographical location. Now the department is planning to introduce a postal address locator that will allot a unique code to each geographical location including village, town, locality, building, street, road, zone and city. How’s that for change?
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/content/dilip-cherian
