“If I were to be born again, I would love to be an IAS officer”: Secretary Anil Swarup

Anil Swarup, 1981 batch IAS

BY THE end of this month, secretary of the department of school education and literacy — Anil Swarup — will retire after serving as a civil servant for long 37 years. Today (Tuesday), just ahead of his retirement, he has taken to the Twitter to give a hurrah to the IAS as a career when he said he enjoyed "every moment" as an IAS. The following is what the 1981 batch UP cadre IAS posted:

Centre weighs in options to combine UPSC score with LBSNAA foundation score to allot IAS, IFS, IPS etc.; 10 Takeaways

UPSC Building

IF THE government has its way, securing good marks in UPSC-conducted civil services examinations may not ensure a service of your choice: IAS, IFS, IPS or IRS! The government last week wrote to the cadre controlling authorities to weigh in the possibility of selecting services for officer-trainees only after looking at the candidate’s combined score in the UPSC examination and the performance in the 3-month-long foundation course in the academy. Here are the 10 key takeaways of what this new rule is and what the rule, if implemented, would mean:

Kejriwal says 90% IAS don’t work; ex-Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit refutes it, saying Delhi has efficient bureaucrats

AFTER Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s allegation that 90% of the IAS officers “do not work” and “obstruct files” related to development work, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit among others have slammed the CM saying that Delhi has “efficient” bureaucrats. Taking to Twitter, three-term Delhi CM says:

Indian govt should reshape recruitment of IAS and protect them from political meddling: US think tank study

THE Indian government should reshape recruitment and promotion processes of IAS, improve performance-based assessment of individual officers, and adopt safeguards that promote accountability while protecting them from political meddling, says a new paper released last week by US think tank — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Calling for urgent administrative reforms, the paper titled “The Indian Administrative Service Meets Big Data” further says that IAS is hamstrung by political interference, outdated…

Corruption in Senior Bureaucracy: A free-wheeling commentary by an anonymous IAS officer

A THOROUGH data mining of the past corruption cases of senior bureaucrats stored in agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will reveal some kind of a pattern of corruption by senior bureaucrats in the government, both at the Centre and the states. But an IAS officer claiming to have 10 years of experience revealed a lot early this week while answering a question on Quora, a popular question-answer website. The question was — what is the lifestyle of an IAS officer? The post, seen so far by over 2.3 lakh visitors, went viral in social media sites on Monday. There, the officer mentioned about…

3 IAS officers changed their names in 3 months; astrology or fashion?

A GOVERNMENT official recently wrote to BoI: “I know one officer whose name is TPVSS Rao. Strangely with every new posting he would become Sekhar Rao or SS Rao or TP Rao. We used to call him A to Z Rao." Jokes apart, changing one’s name or at least a part of it by senior officers has become somewhat routine, at least when three IAS officers since June this year got permission from the DoPT to do so. Last week, DoPT permitted one IAS officer named…

Should corrupt IAS be punished more than the rest? A CBI judgement alludes

WHILE giving a five-year jail term to a 1971 batch AGMU cadre former IAS S Malaichamy, CBI special court made a few observations about Indian Administrative Service in its 241-page judgement. Here are a few excerpts which indicate why the special judge thinks IAS officers, if found guilty, need to be punished a little more than those in other services:

Dr Manmohan Singh’s prescription for IAS

PRIME Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh terms Indian Administrative Service (IAS) a very privileged service and expects IAS officers to have an all-India perspective with a strong commitment to the goals and ideals enshrined in the Constitution. Based on his speech to the IAS probationers of 2008, (See picture above) delivered on April 4, 2009 in New Delhi, BoI (Babus of India) has made an attempt to figure out what PM wants out of an IAS officer.

Here are a few selected excerpts of PM’s speech: On All India Mindset We are a Union of states and we must never forget this all India perspective. When you go to various states, you are in-charge of various departments, you look after the interests of your departments, the interests of your states but you must never lose sight of the wider perspective that there is a wider perspective of strengthening the unity and integrity of our country which must be the paramount concern of all Services in our country and foremost of a Service like the Indian Administrative Service.

On Imbibing Latest Trends

It is very important that you must pay particular attention to equipping yourself with latest trends in thinking about development, about environment and all other aspects which have a bearing on the processes of governance.

On Explosion Of Knowledge Today, the world is changing at a pace which was unthinkable even a decade ago. Science and technology have become the principle determiners of the wealth and well being of people all over the world. Human knowledge is therefore exploding and it is therefore very important that our civil servants should keep abreast of the latest trends in the development of human knowledge, knowledge which as I said is growing at a speed which was unthinkable even a decade ago. On Duties Of Civil Servants There is growing concern that civil servants are not mindful of their duties. I would therefore urge that you must be mindful of the fact that the people of India have entrusted you these responsibilities and it is your solemn obligation to serve the people with the greatest dedication. On Our Neighbourhood We are today faced with a neighbourhood which is far from peaceful. You all know about the developments in Pakistan. You all know about the developments in Nepal, you all know about the recent developments in Bangladesh, you all know about the recent developments in Sri Lanka. They all impinge on our development. South Asia is in turmoil. And therefore in planning for our own development, we have to be mindful of the environment within which we have to operate. So you have enormous opportunities but also enormous challenges.

Babus In Demand: Two jobs for senior civil servants

HERE are two jobs for senior IAS officers. Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) is looking for an officer who held the post of a secretary in the government of India, or equivalent in the state for two years, or a person who is well versed in the field of technology, telecommunication, industry, commerce and administration to fill up the vacancy of a member after the incumbent K S Sharma left TDSAT to join TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) as chairman. A TDSAT member gets the same remuneration as a secretary (A salary of Rs 80,000 per month). A search-cum-selection committee is being constituted for the selection to the post. The last date of application is June 19, 2009. If you feel you are eligible and have any doubt, just pick up the phone and call J S Deepak, joint secretary, telecommunication, at 011-23717411. The second officer in demand is for the post of executive director of National Institute of Administrative Research, a registered society of LBS National Academy of Administration. Though academicians are also qualified for applying for the post, for a civil servant the qualification is a joint secretary in government of India, or an equivalent post at the state. Any doubt? Kindly call at 0135-2632663/2630917.

Charm of IAS forces young railway probationers flee IIM campus

A DESIRE to become IAS officers has forced many railway probationers currently undertaking a management training programme in IIM-Calcutta flee the campus as civil services (preliminary) examination, 2009 are scheduled to be held on May 17, 2009, sources in Rail Bhawan told Babu Blogger. This has upset babus in Rail Bhawan who championed the cause of introducing for the first time a 12-week-long executive general management programme for 60 Indian railway officers as a part of the 18-month-long programme for railway probationer officers. The Board had earlier commissioned the IIM-C to conduct the course for the new recruits. Yet, railway officials chose to flee from the IIM campus as trying their luck for entering the elite IAS cadre is much more satisfying than taking lessons on economics, human resource, public policy, behavioural science, marketing, ethics and finance at the IIM.

UPSC Prelims as scheduled on May 17 The civil services (preliminary) examination, 2009 will be held by the Union Public Service Commission on May 17, 2009 as scheduled, the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pension said in a press release on May 15. The release termed the news items appeared in a section of Hindi dailies regarding postponement of some of the examinations conducted by the Commission as false.

UPSC declares results of IES/ISS written test, 2008 Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the result of the written part of the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2008 held from November 22 to November 25, 2008. The candidates who have qualified the written test will now appear for interviews.

Short Take

Children of IAS officers may unlikely to figure in the list of civil services aspirants which have witnessed 42% rise

LBS National Academy of Administration,

Mussoorie

I was writing a series of articles two years ago when a number of IAS and Group A officers, decided to jump into the uncertainties of private sector, and became CEOs overnight. Various prominent companies in India, mainly those in infrastructure space, including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), IL&FS, IDFC, GMR, Ramky Infrastructure to name a few, recruited senior government officials at key management positions, preferring them over those with rich private sector experience. Even consultancy firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) attracted talents from IAS cadres. The trend is reversed altogether after the global economic slowdown hit the capabilities of the private sector, though temporarily, to participate in big public private partnership (PPP) projects. What has also made Babus stick to their current positions, is the massive 6th Pay Commission bonanza for government employees, making their pay packages respectable though not yet comparable with that of CEOs. Now, let’s come to the news point. There have been media reports saying that Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) examination this year has seen a rise of 42% - up from last year’s figure of 2.8 lakh to a little over 4 lakh. Incredible! But the bigger question here is babudom has still remained a pure middle class dream. Most of the children of IAS and allied services officers prefer to take GRE, or CAT rather than taking up UPSC examination. The Harvard Business School or IIM-Ahmedabad are still the preferred destinations than making an attempt to get trained at IAS academy at Mussoorie!