Govt defers decision on top officials' tenure

The issue of fixed tenure for the post of home and defence secretary has been put on the back burner, with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) deciding that the issue needed a little more thought but not at this moment.

The deciding factor in maintaining the status quo, according to top government sources was the deep resentment felt by the second rung of IAS officers who felt that by fixing the tenure to two years, alternate batches of the Indian Administrative Service officers would lose out on the top jobs in their careers.

"There would be batches of officers with no hope of rising to the top of their profession, which is represented by the posts of Home and Defence secretary, since the Cabinet secretary's post has already been set aside for a fixed tenure of two years," said a PMO source.

Officially, however, the government is saying that no decision has been taken on the issue, as witnessed by the answer to a query raised in the Lok Sabha today.

According to sources, the PMO also resented the attempt by 10-15 top IAS officers who would have been eligible for the two posts after the present incumbents retired to "manage" the political establishment into the move.

"More to the point, in case there is a change in the political establishment mid-way through the tenure of these secretaries then it will become a problem for the new government," said a source.

The example cited was that of last Cabinet secretary Kamal Pande who was an NDA appointee, with a fixed tenure of two years. When the UPA came to power, he was shifted to the Inter-State Tribunal, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted his own team.

"In the case of the Home and Defence secretaries there would be an additional problem of creating alternative parking spaces," added the source.

Also, if minister's, midway through the secretaries term, found that they could not get along, it would be a difficult position to negotiate. Add to that the issue that every alternate batch of the administrative service would be left out of top posts.

Ever since the proposal for fixed tenures had come up there has been speculation whether Information and Broadcasting secretary Naveen Chawla would be the next home secretary.

In a sense then, the rejection of the proposal has decided the matter, since Chawla will retire in a couple of months.