Pick-’n’-choose era ends

IAS officers would be breathing a sigh of relief as cherry-picking of officers at the level of personal secretary by ministers will come to an end. Under the Narendra Modi dispensation, the Department of Personnel and Training has circulated clear guidelines for ministers for the appointment of personal staff — both personal secretaries who are usually senior IAS officers and personal assistants. Ministers have been ordered to take the assistants they are given from the common pool of qualified officers.

This order had always existed and was reportedly followed during the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi administrations. But it has since been flouted with audacity as ministers picked officers on various personal predilections and considerations. The situation was even more scandalous in the appointment of personal assistants to ministers as the latter appointed their sons, daughters, uncles, nephews and nieces in various departments so that the money allocated for this staff stayed in the minister’s family.

True to his word to bring in governance and transparency at every level, Mr Modi has hit at what could well be the entry point of trouble for his ministers. A senior minister in the UPA-2 government had to resign last year on account of corruption charges against his kith and kin even though he might not have been aware of it. Most often these kith and kin, over the years, assume immense powers, develop agendas of their own, and even decide who can or cannot see the minister. This is also where corruption starts. With qualified assistants, ministers will also perform more efficiently.