Alleging 'discriminatory' promotion rule, officers assoc seek

Confederation of various civil services officers association including IRS and IPS today sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in removing "discriminatory and monopolistic" procedure for appointment at higher posts of the government alleging it favours only IAS.
Confederation of Civil Services Association (CoCSA) comprising officers from IRS, IFS, IPS, Indian Information Services, Postal services and seven others submitted a five-page plea to the Prime Minister alleging "discrimination" in the proper career growth of officers from other services.
"It also restricts the choice of the government, which is constrained to select top level officers primarily from one particular service (IAS), even if they are not the best persons suited for the job," the plea said.

The Confederation referred to a circular of Department of Personnel and Training in January 1996 which laid down the procedures for empanelment of officers for the post of Secretary and Additional Secretary.
According to the circular, officials from all the 37 participating services, which include three All India Services and 34 Central Services Group 'A' under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) had to be taken.
However, in practice, the Confederation alleged that entry barriers have been erected for services other than the IAS and systematically the share of officers from other services diminished over a period of time.

Giving a comparison of officers posted as Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Government, they said in 1972 there were 30 All India Services officers posted as Secretary and 20 as Additional Secretaries.

The figure stood at 15 for Central Group 'A' officers as Secretaries and 11 as Additional Secretaries. There was no one from CSS and only one as Additional Secretary.
The figures in 2015 stood at 73 Secretary-level posts for IAS while one for IPS, 10 for Scientists, two for Indian Forest Services and five for CSS.
On the Additional Secretary level, the figure stood at 98 for IAS, none from IPS and Scientist, one from Indian Forest Services and 8 from CSS.