The government in two gazette notifications on Tuesday promoted 89 joint secretaries to the rank of additional secretary. With the newly promoted officials, the number of additional secretaries stands at 505 whereas the sanctioned post in the rank is only 212. As per rules, all of them have been made special officers in the Ministry of Public Administration.
According to media reports, on September 26 last year the government did promote 98 joint secretaries to the rank of additional secretary. This time there were 372 eligible officers to be promoted. In any modern state, the structure of the administration, its posts and personnel are determined according to demand. If the government thinks that 89 new people need to be promoted to the position of additional secretary, then it must create posts first. Not only additional secretaries, but also reportedly there are more secretaries, joint secretaries and deputy secretaries than the number of sanctioned posts.
Promotion of an official without there being a post sets a bad precedent and it may create chaos. In the past, there were agitations among officials over such promotions. This culture of promotion without vacant posts needs to stop. According to experts, there are no specific guidelines for “in-situ” promotion, creating scope for “pick and choose” following intense lobbying and political leniency. The taxpayers have to pay more for these officials, although they are getting the same service.
The state minister for Public Administration the other day expressed anger over the behaviour of government officials, saying mistreatment of people and service-seekers is also corruption. He said there is no rule for government officials to be addressed as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’. The hard truth behind this statement of the state minister is that the people who come to government offices are harassed by officials at different levels. They are forced to pay bribes to get work done.
We want the government to ensure efficiency and accountability at all levels instead of posting blanket promotions.
