Text Size: A- A+

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has, over the last few years, made a concerted effort to break the hegemony of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) over the civil services. But so far, it has been unclear just which other service has benefitted the most from the IAS’s diminishing dominance.

The answer is the low-profile Indian Railway Service, according to the last three years’ empanelment data accessed by ThePrint.

So far, in 2019, 228 officers have been empanelled at the level of joint secretary from across the civil services. Seventy-eight of these officers have been from the Indian Railway Service, compared to just 49 from the IAS and 46 from the Indian Revenue Service. The other 55 officers represent the police, forest, postal, economic and information services.

Empanelment is the process of making officers eligible for positions in the central government, from which some are eventually selected as joint secretaries, additional secretaries and secretaries.

But this trend is not just limited to 2019.

In 2018, of the 554 officers empanelled at the joint secretary level, 197 were from the Indian Railway Service, 85 from the IPS, 73 from the revenue service, 64 from the forest service and just 49 from the IAS.

The year before, of the 411 officers empanelled, 141 were from the railway service, 52 from the revenue service, 47 from the IPS, 44 from the forest service, and 43 from the IAS.

Why is the railway service doing so well?

According to current government rules, the eligibility criteria for IAS officers to be empanelled for a certain position is two years less than their counterparts from other services under the Central Staffing Scheme — an advantage seen as discriminatory by the others.

“Even the 7th Pay Commission had recommended that there should be parity between empanelment rules for the IAS vis-à-vis other services,” a Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) official told ThePrint.

The official said after the Modi government decided to balance things out at the top of the civil service, the other services “have started getting empanelled in proportion to their strength”.

The Indian Railway Service actually consists of many smaller services with their own separate cadres, such as the Indian Railway Personnel Service, Traffic Service, Accounts Service, Mechanical Engineers Service, etc. “So, if you look at it, their cadres are huge, that is why the pool to select from is also huge,” the official said.

Also read: IPS officers challenge govt stand on right to form association, say it reflects IAS bias

Situation at other levels

While the IAS might be losing strength at the joint secretary level, at the additional secretary and secretary levels, it still dominates.

Forty-eight IAS officers were empanelled as secretaries in 2019, 54 in 2018 and 88 in 2017, while the corresponding figures for the other services were zero, five and four.

The numbers for the additional secretary rank follow the same trend — 52 IAS officers and 17 from other services in 2019, 96 IAS officers and 21 from other services in 2018 and 95 IAS officers and none from other services the year before that.

‘IAS officers are the new victims’

A senior IAS officer said there was a clear bias against the IAS.

“At senior levels, the pool still mostly consists of IAS officers, that’s why they are still getting empanelled… But at the JS level, you can see a clear bias against the IAS,” the officer said.

“IAS officers are the new victims. Some very obscure and random reasons are being found to not empanel deserving officers… The whole experience can be very humiliating and demotivating for someone who is prevented from getting promoted.”

However, officers from other services say despite concerted attempts to bring some semblance of parity between IAS officers and their counterparts from other services, the “gap” remains too large to be bridged.

“The IAS officers who are getting empanelled at JS level belong to the 2002 batch, while those from other services belong to 1989 or 1990 batch,” said an officer from the Indian Railway Personnel Service. “The gap is just too huge…So, the IAS officers are just crying foul.”

Also read: Modi govt ready for second round of lateral entry recruitment for 40 posts

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram

Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust. You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the media’s economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism. We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the country’s most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building India’s most ambitious and energetic news platform. And have just turned three. At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous and questioning journalism. Please click on the link below. Your support will define ThePrint’s future. Support Our Journalism

Show Full Article