Cabinet nod for draft KAS rules

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft special rules for the proposed Kerala Administrative Service (KAS).

The KAS is being formed by setting aside 10 per cent of second gazetted posts of the selected 29 departments and common category. KAS officers will be recruited through three streams (1) Direct appointment, age limit 32, university degree.

(2) Direct recruitment of permanent employee from any of the government departments, age 40, qualification university degree. (3) From those in the first gazette posts in 29 selected departments or from equivalent common category posts, age group below 50 years. 

The approved draft special rules will be discussed with the staff organisations to seek their opinion.

Cabinet also decided to send the special rules to Public Service Commission for its perusal.

The KAS is aimed at injecting young talent and improving efficiency of the administrative service. Besides, it will also make delivery system effective and people friendly.

Experts say Class I Services are a critical element of the higher management of government and are generally raised as a ‘Mandarin’ civil service, i.e., high quality graduates recruited competitively early and trained institutionally for a variety of executive positions dealing with regional administration before being promoted to policy formulation and higher management positions assisting elected political administrators. All states have Class-I State Civil Services who are later promoted into IAS. 

Though State Administrative Reforms Commissions have successively recommended the formation of a broad based inter-disciplinary multi-departmental Kerala Administrative Service, the strong pressure from the ministerial trade unions had prevented it for the last 60 years.

The lacunae caused by the absence of an IAS style professionally trained middle management service is widely felt.