To appoint pvt person as OSD, IB clearance mandatory: Govt

The central government has made Intelligence Bureau's clearance mandatory for appointment of a private person as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to a minister.

In a directive, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has asked ministries to send a proposal including approval from the concerned minister, willingness of the person to be appointed as OSD and educational qualification certificates (attested by an officer not below the level of Under Secretary) to it.

Besides, it has been made mandatory to send to the DoPT the biodata or earlier service details of the candidate duly attested by the minister concerned, post creation details with the approval of DoPT and the Ministry of Finance, IB report and police report on verification of character and antecedents for processing requests for appointment of private person as OSD, it said.

An Intelligence Bureau (IB) clearance is not needed in case a government official being appointed as OSD to a minister, according to the directive.

As per procedure, the final appointment of OSD will be made after the approval of Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).

In a related development, the new government has asked all its ministers not to appoint officials who had served in key positions in the erstwhile UPA government as former ministers' personal staff.

This comes after a recent controversy over appointment of private secretaries to three Union ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh.