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In a decision that will change the face of the country’s bureaucracy, recruitment to the Group B services of DANICS, DANIPS, PANICS, PONDIPS and AFHQS will no longer be made through the Civil Services Examination.
The Group B services have been de-linked from the Civil Services Examination (CSE) with effect from next year and directions have been issued for making alternative arrangements for recruitment to these.
The CSE will henceforth be used only for the elite Group A services of IAS, IPS and IFS.
Group B services like DANICS delinked
“Feeder services” would have be recruited through state services commissions.
The logic behind the decision, taken at a meeting chaired by the Additional Secretary (Services and Vigilance) Rahul Sarin on September 18, was that the Group B wants to pay scale parity, while their aptitude, attribute, and career profile, are different from IAS and IPS officers.
They are different
The aptitude and attributes expected from a Group A officer was not the same as those expected from a Group B officer because the nature of duties and responsibilities are different for the two groups.
“Maintaining the integrity in the purpose and direction of the Civil Services of Examination is more important than convenience of sourcing the intake of some Group B service through CSE. Hence, it is necessary that all Group B services are delinked from Civil Services,” according to the minutes of the meeting available with MiD DAY.
Not appropriate
The meeting attended by Home Ministry Joint Secretary B A Coutinho, Defence Ministry Joint Secretary Jatinder Bir Singh and AIS director Ashwini Kumar pointed out it is not “necessary and appropriate” that secretariat services should be recruited through civil services.
“By delinking ‘inferior’ Group B services from Civil Services Examination, the IAS has further filtered the chances of the so-called feeder services,” says a DANIPS officer on condition of anonymity.
Promotions
“There is always heartburn when promotions are concerned. But this is a retrograde step by the IAS lobby who is controlling everything today,” added another senior officer who hardly expects to be reach the joint secretary/commissioner level.
“The IAS doesn’t want to even consider that the mettle of the Group B services was the same themselves because they were some marks below the desired level. Now they want an unchallenged walk-thru promotions at higher level,” another officer added.
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