Long stays in postings breed corruption, rotate officers: Parl panel

There has been a rotational policy for all officers but it is not being implemented in toto, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances said

Long stays of officers in postings breed corruption and remedial measures should be taken to ensure that they do not stay beyond the prescribed time limit in any ministry, a parliamentary panel has said.

There has been a rotational policy for all officers but it is not being implemented in toto, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said in its 145th report, tabled in Parliament on March 27, on the Demands for Grants (2025-26) pertaining to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). 

There are officers who are posted in potentially favourable ministries or places for over 8-9 years, especially in economic and sensitive ministries, and are continuing their stay despite heads of organisations being replaced four-five times. This trend should be assessed, it said.

Instances have come to notice where officers have "manoeuvred their postings in such a way that their whole career has been in the same ministry and hence such lacuna needs to be plugged without any delay", the report stated.

The committee's observation came while reviewing the working of the Central Secretariat Services (CSS) and Central Secretariat Stenographers' Services (CSSS) -- the mainstay of central secretariat functioning.

"It has been brought to the notice of the Committee that especially in CSS & CSSS, all gazetted officers are rotated on the basis of sensitive and non-sensitive postings and at sensitive places, officers are replaced after (a) tenure of 3 years. Similarly, ministries have also been categorised as economic and non-economic," the report said.

The panel said long stays at particular seats or places breed corruption and remedial measures need to be taken immediately. All transfers should be made immediately as per policy and no officer should stay beyond the prescribed time limit in any ministry.

The Ministry of Finance has departments which have been categorised as economic and non-economic. It has come to the notice of the committee that there are instances where officers have manoeuvred their postings in such a way that their whole career has been in the same ministry. Such lacuna needs to be plugged without any delay, the report said.