Cadre reviews for as many as 15 services across ministries and government departments are pending for about 25 years, according to a government circular. The National Democratic Alliance government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has asked all ministries to expedite recruitment planning, as part of a cadre review exercise for group-A services.
Cadre reviews are aimed at estimating manpower requirements for a period of five years at a time and planning recruitment to avoid hurdles in the process of promotions.
At a recent meeting on the matter, it was stressed while planning recruitment exercises, an attempt should be made to anticipate the role of organisations in changing times. At the meeting, coordinated by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), concern on many vacancies and lack of planning related to recruitment was discussed with ministries.
A policy on lateral induction was also taken up, according to recommendation in the 10th report of the second administrative reforms committee. All ministries were told to give their views on allowing lateral induction in senior government positions from states, the private sector and academics.
Among the ministries that had seen delay in such a review is the external affairs ministry— the ministry had held the last cadre review exercise for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 2004. At the meeting, a representative said as the ministry was implementing a Cabinet-approved expansion plan (to be completed by 2018), there was no requirement for a review now.
The Department of Legal Affairs did not carry out a cadre review for more than two decades, resulting in a large number of vacancies, according to the minutes of the meeting. For the Indian Naval Armament Service, the last cadre review was in 1987. A representative said proposals for cadre reviews were sent to DoPT on six occasions, but these weren’t approved. The Department of Economic Affairs had carried out the last such review in 2011, the corporate affairs ministry in 2008, Indian Defence Estate Services in 2009, the Department of Posts in 2007 and the Department of Geological Services in the mines ministry in 2011.
