For all the vaunted talk of “minimum government, maximum governance”, there is little the new dispensation has to show on the ground. The top level of the bureaucracy at the Centre, in fact, is fast getting paralysed because of the inability of the Appointments Committee of Cabinet to discharge its duties since the formation of the government. The reason: crucial appointments are pending as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who heads the committee, remains too busy to spare time for its meeting, leading to accumulation of vacancies at the top of the administration.
This high-profile committee finalises appointments of several top bureaucrats, including board level officials in different departments and public sector undertakings. Till the previous government’s regime, the committee consisted of the prime minister (the chairman), the home minister and the minister in charge of the concerned ministry for which the appointment was required.
But in June, the Modi government changed the rule. With the stated objective of freeing bureaucrats from the pulls and pressures of the individual ministers, the Appointments Committee was made a two-member panel, consisting merely of the prime minister and the home minister.
Ripple effect
The panel, however, has remained dysfunctional. It has not finalised any appointments during the last six months, according to sources. As a result, the vacancies have started affecting the functioning of many departments, slowing down their decision-making and diminishing the promotion chances of officers down the line.
Among the worst hit is the department dealing with the levy and collection of revenue in the country. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, which manages the affairs of the 75,000-employee-strong income tax department, has been reduced to a body with just one member (AK Jain) and one chairperson (Anita Kapur) since August 1. At its full strength, the CBDT has six members and one chairperson.
“With so many vacancies in the CBDT, the work in the department has slowed down,” Income Tax Gazetted Officers’ Association President Ajay Goyal told Scroll.in. “In place of 26 Principal Chief Commissioners, the department has merely six.”
The Principal Chief Commissioners are the topmost officials below CBDT who manage cadres in all the 18 income tax regions in the country. The situation is no better down the line as the CBDT is simply unable to take any decisions related to promotions.
No decisions
The dysfunctional Appointments Committee has created a similar crisis at the Central Board of Customs and Excise (CBCE), which too has a sanctioned strength of six members and one chairperson. Until Thursday, the CBCE was managing with three members and one chairperson. One of the members, Mala Srivastava, retired on Friday, leaving the board with just two members – SB Singh and Joy Kumari Chander – and a chairperson (Kaushal Srivastava).
The recent crisis in the Special Protection Group, created by the strange manner in which its director K Durga Prasad was removed while he was in Kathmandu with Modi, underscored this paralysis at the top caused by the prime minister-headed panel’s failure to take decisions on time.
Prasad’s tenure had formally ended on November 2. The government issued a one-line statement on November 26, saying: “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has directed that the charge of Director, Special Protection Group, may be looked after by the next senior most officer till the appointment of a suitable successor.” The statement took everyone by surprise.
“The government’s inability to find a new SPG director well on time exposes not just procedural lapses,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity. “It also shows that the Appointments Committee, for some unknown reason, is simply not taking any decision.”
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This high-profile committee finalises appointments of several top bureaucrats, including board level officials in different departments and public sector undertakings. Till the previous government’s regime, the committee consisted of the prime minister (the chairman), the home minister and the minister in charge of the concerned ministry for which the appointment was required.
But in June, the Modi government changed the rule. With the stated objective of freeing bureaucrats from the pulls and pressures of the individual ministers, the Appointments Committee was made a two-member panel, consisting merely of the prime minister and the home minister.
Ripple effect
The panel, however, has remained dysfunctional. It has not finalised any appointments during the last six months, according to sources. As a result, the vacancies have started affecting the functioning of many departments, slowing down their decision-making and diminishing the promotion chances of officers down the line.
Among the worst hit is the department dealing with the levy and collection of revenue in the country. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, which manages the affairs of the 75,000-employee-strong income tax department, has been reduced to a body with just one member (AK Jain) and one chairperson (Anita Kapur) since August 1. At its full strength, the CBDT has six members and one chairperson.
“With so many vacancies in the CBDT, the work in the department has slowed down,” Income Tax Gazetted Officers’ Association President Ajay Goyal told Scroll.in. “In place of 26 Principal Chief Commissioners, the department has merely six.”
The Principal Chief Commissioners are the topmost officials below CBDT who manage cadres in all the 18 income tax regions in the country. The situation is no better down the line as the CBDT is simply unable to take any decisions related to promotions.
No decisions
The dysfunctional Appointments Committee has created a similar crisis at the Central Board of Customs and Excise (CBCE), which too has a sanctioned strength of six members and one chairperson. Until Thursday, the CBCE was managing with three members and one chairperson. One of the members, Mala Srivastava, retired on Friday, leaving the board with just two members – SB Singh and Joy Kumari Chander – and a chairperson (Kaushal Srivastava).
The recent crisis in the Special Protection Group, created by the strange manner in which its director K Durga Prasad was removed while he was in Kathmandu with Modi, underscored this paralysis at the top caused by the prime minister-headed panel’s failure to take decisions on time.
Prasad’s tenure had formally ended on November 2. The government issued a one-line statement on November 26, saying: “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has directed that the charge of Director, Special Protection Group, may be looked after by the next senior most officer till the appointment of a suitable successor.” The statement took everyone by surprise.
“The government’s inability to find a new SPG director well on time exposes not just procedural lapses,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity. “It also shows that the Appointments Committee, for some unknown reason, is simply not taking any decision.”