New Delhi [India] September 15 (ANI): Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, called upon IAS Officers to work with dedication for improvement in the delivery of services and grievance redressal to citizens while maintaining the principle of anonymity.

New Delhi [India], September 6 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed contempt proceedings against Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as it refused to entertain a petition that claimed that the senior officer as DoPT secretary had not abided by a court order.

New Delhi [India], June 24 (ANI): Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday raised an issue with the Centre regarding a "severe shortage" of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in his state by the end of this year.

New Delhi Apr 21 PTI Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday that next generation reforms in governance will be an important milestone to achieve the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat self-reliant India Speaking during an event at the Vigyan Bhawan here to mark the 15th civil services day he said the ultimate objective of good governance is to bring ease of living in the life of a common manThere is a need for choosing right kind of indices for Vision India2047 he said and urged civil servants also to deliberate upon technology-driven growth that lies aheadThe Minister of State for Personnel said that soon after becoming Prime Minister in 2014 Narendra Modi had given a mantra of maximum governance minimum governmentThe minister said that within three months of coming to power in 2014 the first Modi dispensation abolished the century old colonial practice of attestation of documents by a gazetted officerThis gave a message to the people that now there is a government which has courage and capacity to trust the youth and citizens of its own country he saidHe said that in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort in 2015 Prime Minister Modi had suggested the abolition of interview and making job selection totally on the basis of a written test for providing level playing fieldSince 2016 the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT subsequently abolished interviews for Group-B non- gazetted and Group-C posts in the central government Singh saidThe minister said that similarly in the last eight years the government has done away with around 1500 rules which had become obsoleteHe said that in 2014 at the time of formation of the government at the Centre the grievance cell of the government of India used to receive two lakh complaints in a year but today this has gone up to 25 lakh which means that the government is prompt and follows a timeline and our disposal rate is 95-98 per weekSingh said with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi a path-breaking initiative has been taken to shift the working and functioning of the civil servants from rule to role through the governments most ambitious reform Mission Karmayogi so that they are confident and able to perform the task assigned to themReferring to the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances good governance week campaign Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur he said it will create a national movement for good governance and motivate the stakeholders both in the government as well as outside the governmentIn his concluding remarks Singh said as the country is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav the next 25 years will decide about where India will be standing and what will be its stature when the country celebrates 100 years of its independenceHe said that the countrys plan of action for these 25 years is very important to achieve the vision of Modis new India PTI AKV AKV TIR TIR

New Delhi Mar 31 PTI The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Centre to consider the representation of some aspirants who could not appear in the UPSC civil services main examination after being infected with COVID-19 and are now seeking an additional attempt in light of the recommendation made in a recent parliamentary committee reportIn the March 24 report the committee has said that keeping in view the hardships faced by the student community during the first and second waves of COVID-19 it recommends the government to change its mind and sympathetically consider the demand of civil services examination CSE aspirants and grant an extra attempt with corresponding age relaxation to all candidatesThe Centre had last week told the apex court that additional attempt in the Union Public Service Commission UPSC civil services examination is not possibleA bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar was hearing a plea filed by three aspirants who had cleared the UPSC 2021 prelims exam but could not appear in all papers of the main exam after testing positive for COVID-19 and are now seeking an extra attempt to appear in the examsAdvocate Prashant Bhushan who was appearing for an intervenor in the matter apprised the apex court about the parliamentary committee reportHas the government considered this committee report before taking the decision the bench also comprising Justices A S Oka and C T Ravikumar askedAdditional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the Centre said that she do not have instructions on thisYou may consider it in light of this recommendation the bench observed adding it is open for the government to change its mindThe bench asked the petitioners and the intervenor to make representation to the authority which would consider it in light of the committee reportIn light of the recommendation of the parliamentary committee we dispose of this petition and application with a direction to the appropriate authority to re-examine the representations made by the petitioners and similarly placed persons afresh and take appropriate decision the bench said The bench made clear that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matterThe UPSC had recently told the top court there is no provision for holding re-examination in case a candidate fails to appear in the test on the scheduled date for any reasons including ailment or accident incapacitating him to take the examIn its affidavit filed in the court the Centre had said that the CSE is conducted by UPSC annually in accordance with the CSE Rules notified by the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT every year for a particular CSEIt had said the matter of compensatoryextra attempt has been adjudicated by the apex court in the past against the plea of hardships faced by the aspirants due to the COVID-19 pandemic but it was not grantedThe affidavit had referred to the judgement and order passed by the top court last year in February and July 2021 on separate pleasIt had said after the July last year order a number of representations were received in the DoPT putting forth the same demand of compensatoryextra attemptThe matter has been considered and it has not been found feasible to change the existing provisions regarding number of attempts and age-limit in respect of the CSE it had saidIt had said the existing age range for admission to CSE is 21 to 32 years with relaxation for certain categories of candidates and the permissible number of attempts is also six with relaxations for certain categories of candidatesIn its separate affidavit filed in the apex court the UPSC had said that any decision regarding age relaxation and compensatoryextra attempt in the civil services examination is a policy matter which falls under the domain of the DoPTWhile two of the three petitioners had to leave the main exam held from January 7 to 16 in-between after appearing in some initial papers the third aspirant could not appear in any of the papers due to COVIDThe petitioners in their plea filed through advocate Shashank Singh had said that they tested positive for COVID-19 in the RTPCR test reports dated January 13 14 and January 6 respectivelyThe plea had said the petitioners could not take the UPSC mains examination after testing positive for COVID-19 and owing to the restrictions imposed under the strict quarantine guidelines of the governmentAlso there was absence of any kind of policy of UPSC which could provide arrangements for such petitioners who were COVID positive during the span of mains examination or before it it had saidThe petitioners are approaching this court under Article 32 and seeking a direction to the Respondent UPSC to extend them an additional extra attempt to appear in the examination or in alternate make some arrangement to appear in the rest of papers which the petitioners could not give before the publication of result of civil service mains examination 2021 the plea had said PTI ABA SA

New Delhi Mar 28 PTI A parliamentary committee has asked the Department of Personnel and Training to shun its assumption and open up possibilities for officials of the legislative and judicial wings to serve the executive wingIn its report tabled in the parliament recently the panel said the Union government should restructure and align its personnel requirement in line with its current and future challengesIn view of increasing role and responsibilities of the Union government the committee recommends the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT to make advanced projections and align its human resource architecture so as to meet its future requirements it saidWhile doing so the department may attempt to increase the number of Union government personnel per lakh population the panel said highlighting the finding from a seventh central pay commission report that the total number of federalUnion government personnel per lakh of population in India and the US is 139 and 668 respectivelyThe committee is not satisfied with the explanation offered by DoPT that posts manned through central staffing scheme are of specialised executive nature and that it is not appropriate to draw officials from other wings of the government the report saidThe panel said it is of the view that this explanation is basically flawed as it is based on the assumption that officials serving other wings of the Union government lack skills competency and aptitude required for these postsAlso when the officials of the executive wing can man certain posts in the legislative and judicial wings why the reverse of the same is not possible asked the panel headed by BJPs Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi in its report tabled in parliament on ThursdayThe committee recommends DoPT to shun its assumption and open up possibilities for the officials of the legislative and judicial wings to serve the executive wing said the report of department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel Public Grievances Law and Justice on demands for grants 2022-23 pertaining to the Department of Personnel and TrainingKeeping in view acute shortage of bureaucrats at the middle and entry levels the committee in its 106th report recommended the Ministry of Personnel to expand the scope of central staffing scheme to include all levels of bureaucracy and reframe the eligibility conditions to cover the officers of all organs of the Union government including the legislature judiciary autonomous and constitutional bodies among othersIn response to the committees recommendation the ministry stated that the positions within the central government that are manned through central staffing scheme are that of specialised executive nature where officers with appropriate experience aptitude and suitability are drawn and postedExpanding the scope of central staffing scheme to non-executive branches of the government therefore may not be wholly appropriate the report saidIn its 108th report the committee has asked the ministry as to why officers from non-executive branches of government cannot be trained on the same lines as outside experts inducted through lateral entry scheme especially when the former have an advantage over the latter as they know a thing or two about the functioning of the Union governmentHowever the ministry reiterated its response PTI AKV SRY

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Central Vigilance Commission said timely filing of immovable property returns by government officers is a mandatory pre-condition for vigilance clearance sought by the ministries for their empanelment for senior-level postsIn an order it cited a directive by the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT that says that members of central civil servicesposts who fail to submit annual immovable property returns AIPR of the relevant year within the prescribed time limit would be denied vigilance clearance and they will not be considered for empanelment for senior-level posts in the Government of IndiaAs timely filing of AIPR is a mandatory pre-condition for vigilance clearance all ministriesdepartmentsorganisations are requested to ensure that all officers for whom vigilance input is solicited from the Commission have filed AIPR within the stipulated time limit the Central Vigilance Commission CVC said in the orderln future confirmation on timely filing of property return by concerned officers or deviation in this regard may also be recorded on the covering letter of proposals seeking vigilance clearance from the Commission to avoid delay in processing of the cases said the order issued on March 16The CVC said although filing of AIPR on time is mandatory pre-condition for grant of vigilance clearance so far the commission has not been collecting information on AIPR filing while considering proposals for vigilance clearance and screening to this effect is left to the concerned ministrydepartmentorganisation it saidHowever some proposals received by the commission do contain information on AIPR filing by the concerned officers and the same is taken in account while finalising input on their vigilance status the order notedThe officers are required to submit the property return latest by January 31 each year according to the orderPTI AKV SRY

Raipur Jan 21 PTI Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the proposed amendments to service rules related to IAS officers on the ground that they are against the spirit of federalism and if implemented may lead to collapse of administrative system of statesThe Department of Personnel and Training DoPT recently proposed changes in the Indian Administrative Service Cadre Rules 1954 that will take away the power of states to override the Union governments request for seeking officers on central deputationIn the letter to PM Baghel said the amended rules may put officials posted in states in dilemma in discharging their duties and may lead to a situation of instabilityThe Government of India has proposed amendments to the All India Services Rules and sought opinion from states in this regard The proposed amendments would enable the Centre to unilaterally post the all India services officers on central deputation without getting consent of states and the concerned officer which is against the federal spirit adopted and outlined in the Constitution he saidIn Chhattisgarh the officers of All India Services cadres have been discharging their responsibilities in various important administrative works including law and order eradication of Naxal violence all round development of the state and forest conservation the Congress CM saidAs a result of the amendments in the service rules it is natural that these officers who are posted in various important capacities right from districts to the state-level would feel a sense of instability and ambiguityThey would be in dilemma while discharging their duties and due to political interference it will not be possible for them to work impartially particularly at the time of elections It may lead to collapse of the administrative system in states and a situation of instability could be created Baghel addedThe CM said provisions already exist in the current rules to ensure a coordination between state governments and the CentreApprehending the possibility of misuse of the amended rules in the near future Baghel said There were many instances in the past wherein officers of All India Services cadre were targeted unnecessarily There are adequate provisions in the present rules for maintaining a balance and coordination between state governments and Centre The Chhattisgarh government strongly opposes any amendments in the existing rules the CM saidThe Centres move has already evoked a sharp criticism from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who has written to the PM urging him to roll back the proposal claiming it will affect the states administration PTI TKP RSY RSY

New Delhi [India], January 9 (ANI): Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that pregnant women and divyang (differently-abled) employees of the Central government have been exempted from attending office in the wake of a surge in COVID cases.

New Delhi Dec 24 PTI Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday flagged off a truck carrying 1500 kgs of clothes and similar material from North Block here for distribution to under privileged sections of societyThe material will be distributed to the needy in All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS Institute of Secretariat Training and Management ISTM areas here and rest will be handed over to an NGO Goonj working for the under privileged in Delhi and National Capital Region NCR a Personnel Ministry statement saidSingh said the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT launched the initiative Sanchay in association with Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture to commemorate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to collect the material from government employees working in various ministries and departments located at North Block and nearby buildingsThe minister informed that the initiative held from 29th November to 10th December 2021 received tremendous response and 1500 kgs of clothes and similar material collectedSingh the Minister of State for Personnel said that the Sewa mission of DoPT should continue and asked the officials to undertake the next Sanchay programme of unused mobile hand sets and after reprocessing distribute the same to the poor households to enable their children to access online learningThe minister said taking a cue from DoPT other ministries will also join in the social service workHe also noted with satisfaction that this noble mission is coinciding with the ongoing good governance week scheduled to conclude on SaturdaySingh distributed souvenirs to 22 volunteers who helped in collection of wearable garments and other materials on the occasion Secretary DoPT P K Tripathy Additional Secretary DoPT Rashmi Chowdhary and senior officials of the Ministry joined the event PTI AKV AKV RCJ RCJ