By Rajnish Singh
New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) Considering the pending cadre review of all the Central Group 'A' services, which in some cases are pending for even more than 40 years, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has asked the Cadre Controlling Authorities (CCAs) to expedite the procedure and submit the proposals by June end.
The instructions came four days after the Lok Sabha election results were declared on May 23, which saw the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government return to power for a second term with overwhelming majority.
In a letter dated May 27, DoPT Secretary C. Chandramouli requested the CCAs to look into the matter and directed that "complete cadre review proposals should reach the DoPT latest by June 30".
A DoPT document, accessed by IANS, revealed that about 34 Central Group 'A' services or cadres were to be reviewed by 2018 out of which the cadre review of 11 services were to be completed at the earliest, as pendency of submission of proposals ranged from 1996 to 2017.
The cadre review, the most important tool of cadre management which helps realign a service to ever-changing organisational needs and maintain congruence between functional needs and legitimate aspirations of the officers, is pending for more than 40 years in some cases, the document said.
Of the 34 services, the column regarding year of last cadre review in Defence Research and Development Service mentions "none" as the status.
The last cadre review in P&T Building Works department was done in 1989, followed by Ordnance Factory Health Service (1995), Indian Railways Medical Service (2005), Indian Defence Estates Service (2009) and Indian Economic Service (2011). The "remarks" column of these five services shows status as "under consideration".
The cadre review in Survey of Indian Group 'A' Service was done in 1985, followed by Indian Naval Armament Service (1987), Railway Protection Force (2002), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (2001), Indian Supply Service (2010) and Indian Inspection Service (2010). These six services shows remarks status as "do".
However, the status remark for the remaining 22 services regarding cadre review has no mention.
The year of last cadre review in these department shows as: Indian Broadcast Engg. Service (1981), Indian Broadcasting (Prog) Service (1984), Indian Meteorological Service (1987) and Central Water Engg Service (1991).
No cadre review was conducted in Central Reserve Police Health Service, Border Security Force Health Service and ITBP Health Service after 1994.
The last cadre review in Central Health Service (All Streams), Indian Foreign Service, and Defence Quality Assurance Service was done in 2004.
The cadre review in Indian Legal Service and Indian Company Law Service is pending since 2008. The cadre review in Indian Audit and Accounts Service and Indian Defence Estates Service was done in 2009.
The cadre review in Geological Survey of India is pending since 2011 while the last cadre review in Central Public Works Department's Central Engg. Service, Central Elec. and Mech. Engg. Service and Central Architect Service was done in 2012.
After 2013, no cadre review was done in Indian Customs and Central Excise, Indian Revenue Service (IT), Indian Defence Service of Engg., Indian Radio Regulatory Service and Central Labour Service.
The DoPT, a nodal department of Central government for personnel management, issued the letter citing its May 26, 2018 letter regarding the issue in which it said that prescribed periodicity of cadre review has not been "properly followed" despite repeated reminders from the department.
"With the objective of getting cadre review of all the Central Group 'A' services or cadres completed in time, the department had issued a Calender of cadre review on May 26, 2018. However, the progress towards this end is not satisfactory," the letter said.
"I would like to emphasise that the cadre review exercise needs to be taken with proper care and in a timely manner. In all the cases where cadre review is pending or due and are part of the Calender issued by DoPT in 2018 (Anexure III), the complete cadre review proposals should reach DoPT latest by June 30, 2019 without any exemption," the letter said.
"I shall be grateful, if you kindly look into the matter personally and get the actions expedited," the letter further said.
The cadre review is required to be followed by the CCAs. Considering the role of cadre review in cadre management, the DoPT has formulated guidelines on cadre review. Under the guidelines, the ideal periodicity of cadre review is five years.
The cadre review exercise encompasses several key elements of cadre management to perform the objectives assigned to the service from time-to-time smoothly.
(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)
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