Bloated civil bureaucracy
We are dumbfounded at government plans for yet another round of promotions at deputy, joint and additional secretary levels. We are surprised because as things stand now, there are already many more people holding those positions than there are positions authorised. For instance, there are 1,301 deputy secretaries against 830 posts; 908 joint secretaries against 350 posts, and 416 additional secretaries against 120 posts. On top of all that, there are 300 officials (officer on special duty or OSD all of whom are drawing salaries and benefits from the national exchequer for actually doing very little, if at all.
We wonder how the relevant audit offices view these promotions, since, to our mind, these promotions are irregular. That said we find no logical explanation for the government to justify these promotions which are likely to create more chaos in the civil service. Needless to say, promotion is not manna to be doled out at random. Certain criteria govern promotions which should be adhered to strictly. And commotion occurs in a service when set standards for promotions are thrown by the way side. Needless to say, promotions will hamper the functioning of ministries.
In the final analysis of things, we would like to know precisely where the money is going to come from to pay for those promoted beyond the authorised establishment manpower. The government is already in the doldrums trying to find the money to implement the new pay scale. This sort of ad-hoc and populist measure will help only in increasing the culture of red-tape and do little to aid efficiency.
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