Modi Wants to Change Service, Cadre Allocation Rules for Civil Service Entrants

The Narendra Modi government wants to change the rules of allocation of service and cadre to those clearing the prestigious All India Civil Services examination — in a move that is likely to dilute the role of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and increase interference of the executive.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has a mooted a proposal to allocate the service and cadre to probationers based on their performance in the three-month Foundation Course. The PMO has sought the opinion of ministries that control cadre allocations.

In a letter dated 17 May, Vijoy Kumar Singh, the joint secretary (admin.) of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), writes:

“The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has desired to consider the following suggestion and necessary action on it for its implementation from the current year itself:-

“.....to examine if service allocation/cadre allocation to probationers selected on the basis of the Civil Services Examination be made after Foundation Course. Examine the feasibility of giving due weightage to the performance in the Foundation Course and making service allocation as well as cadre allocation to All India Service Officers, based on the combined score obtained in the Civil Services Examination and the Foundation Course.”

At present, the service allocation/cadre allocation to the candidates selected on the basis of the examination — conducted by the UPSC for 24 all-India services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) — is made well before the commencement of the three-month Foundation Course every year.

If the proposal gets cleared, those cracking the prestigious exam will not be able to choose the service they want on the basis of doing well in the exam. Instead, they will have to wait till they complete their Foundation Course to know which service and cadre they are being allocated.

The PMO has not explained the rationale behind the proposal, which is under consideration.

The DoPT, while pointing out that the suggestions have come from the PMO, has sought the “consideration” and “necessary action” of the ministries so that the change could be implemented from this year. The letter has urged the ministries to examine the existing rules of service and provide their inputs on the matter within a week.

But the letter does not specify what criteria would be followed to assess a candidate’s performance during the foundation course. It does not make clear whether the ‘performance’ in the foundation course would be solely based on an objective written examination or on other aspects to be assessed by the faculty or other officers of the academy.

The letter also does not mention how candidates would be assigned to the training academies.

The IAS and IFS probationers, at present, complete their foundation course at the Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration (LSBNAA) in Mussoorie, while probationers of other services are divided among the three training academies for their courses — the State Academy in Bhopal, the State Academy in Hyderabad and the LSBNAA.

Bureaucrats that Newsclick spoke to gave mixed reactions on the government’s move.

“It is a great move by the government. But a robust system of assessment would be required for it. In the Armed Forces, regiments are allocated after completion of training in the IMA,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

But other officers seemed quite wary of the proposal.

“If it gets cleared, the proposal could have high potential for misuse unless it is done objectively and in a transparent way. It would be difficult for the cadre-controlling ministries to say no as the proposal coming from the PMO,” another officer said.

“If the service and the cadre allocation are determined on the combined score of the civil services examination and the score or performance of the foundation course, it will certainly dilute the role of the UPSC by increasing the interference of the executive,” he added.

Another serving IAS officer said different services had different foundation courses whose overall standards, including for subjects and faculty, were different. Therefore, it would be unfair to allocate services — for which entrants put in so much of effort — based on the scores of the foundation course, he said.