Emphasising that lateral entry brings in qualified human resources, a parliamentary committee on Friday said that the posting of civil services should not be "arbitrary" but be based on the inclination and aptitude of the officer concerned.
It recommended that review of performance of government officers should be done on a regular basis without any bias and favoritism and non-performing officers should be removed.
"This will also motivate the performing officers," the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said in its report tabled in Parliament.
The panel expressed concern over significant vacancies in the Indian Administrative Service, which is the backbone of the administrative machinery of this country.
Out of the total sanctioned strength of 6,699, there is a vacancy of 1,494 posts.
"The committee is of the view that the induction of IAS officers must keep pace with the evolving needs of the Indian administration. Therefore, the committee strongly recommends the department (of personnel and training) to bridge the gap between the sanctioned strength and the in-position strength and to address the problem of deficit of bureaucrats afflicting the Indian administration pronto," the report said.
Referring to the recent lateral recruitment for the 10 posts of joint secretaries, the panel said the performance of these officers should be reviewed at regular intervals and high performing appointees should be retained and promoted to the next level.
Eight out of 10 candidates from private sector have been appointed in different central government departments through lateral entry mode.
"The committee believes that consistent recognition and positive reinforcement will incentivise them do their best and make a positive and lasting impact on the administration,' it said.
The panel said, India, today, needs not generalists or specialists but specialised generalists, i.e. a generalist with knowledge, work experience in a particular domain.
"The committee is of the view that arbitrary postings can be debilitating and that the posting of civil servants should be based on the inclination and aptitude of the officer, as far as practicable. In fact, inconsistent postings not only make the career trajectory of the civil servants uncertain but also affect the administration at large," it said.
It suggested that the ministries should be grouped into clusters or sectors, for instance, rural cluster/sector, social cluster/sector, financial cluster/sector and officers should be assigned to a particular cluster/sector based on their knowledge, competence, interest and inclination.
"Once assigned to a particular sector, the civil servant will spend the rest of his career within the sector concerned," the panel said.
This system will enable civil servants to acquire skills, expertise and professional excellence in a particular domain, it said, adding that this administrative reform can usher in good governance.
The panel was also apprised that a major exercise had been undertaken by the government to review the performance of officers on a yearly basis and to remove those people who were not productive.
As many as 695 officers comprising of five IAS officers; 10 IPS officers; four officers from the Indian Forest Service; 37 officers in the CBDT; 37 officers from CBEC, have actually been reviewed and removed from service, it said.
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