Govt to set up 2 committees to hire retired bureaucrats

Minister for Personnel Jitendra Singh said bureaucrats and polity were two essential pillars of democracy and bureaucrats and civil servants were tools of governments

Two committees will soon be set up by the government for hiring of retired bureaucrats as consultants in various Ministries and departments, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Minister for Personnel and PMO Jitendra Singh said bureaucrats and polity were two essential pillars of democracy and bureaucrats and civil servants were tools of governments.

"We can't achieve good governance with bad tools. Therefore, it sometimes become necessary to appoint retired bureaucrats. We are now planning to set up a committee with representatives of concerned Ministries or Departments as well as Department of Personnel which will select such candidates.

"If the appointment would be for more than two years and the salary would be more than Rs 50,000, another committee, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, would consider any such proposal of appointment of retired bureaucrats," he said during Question Hour.

The Minister said while appointing retired bureaucrats as consultants, the government's efforts were always objective rather than subjective.

"As the consultants and advisors are not to be engaged against regular posts, it is not likely to affect the morale of serving officials or employment opportunities for the youth. Moreover they bring expertise with them which only improves overall efficiency of the government," he said

Singh said as per the extant rules, the Ministries and Departments may hire external professionals, consultancy firms or consultants for a specific job, not against regular post. Some retired senior civil servants having expertise and eminence are also appointed as advisors with a view to achieve certain specified public policy objectives.

The Minister said the government is also framing guidelines for appointment of retired bureaucrats as consultants and examining the possibility of extending the cooling off period for retired bureaucrats in taking appointment in private sector beyond one year.

Singh also said the Department of Personnel has set up a committee to revisit the syllabus and training for bureaucrats and the committee will submit its report soon.

Besides, the government has been trying to improve the administrative mechanism through various ways, he said.