Fix term for Secys, match CV with jobs: PM’s two bold ideas

The first idea is to ensure continuity in decision-making by having a fixed tenure for Secretaries serving in key Ministries like Home, Defence and Finance. A fixed tenure of two or three years is being considered, which if implemented, could throw the complicated procedures of appointment on the basis of empanelment and seniority into disarray.

The second radical proposal is for the departments concerned to empanel bureaucrats of the level of Secretaries and Joint Secretaries on the basis of job description and past experience. ‘‘The whole idea is to have a better match of tenure, background and experience for the top bureaucracy,’’ a top official of the PMO told The Indian Express.

Officials say that the two proposals have the backing of the PM who spoke about the ‘‘mismatches’’ he noticed when he was conducting interviews and examining CVs of bureaucrats being appointed to top posts.

The Prime Minister is also known to have been peeved about the shoddy manner in which Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) were being prepared, since several were found to be either incomplete or missing.

Even as they examine the twin proposals, the PMO and Cabinet Secretariat are grappling with the possible fallout of the schemes. For one, if the criterion of fixed tenures, to begin with, for a clutch of Secretaries is introduced, it would mean many empaneled officers with shorter tenures will not make it to key posts. It would also give the impression of a few Ministries being ‘‘superior’’ Ministries of Government.

The Cabinet Secretariat has also received feedback that should a strict code of ‘‘experience matching’’ be done at the Joint Secretary level, the whole appointment process would considerably slow down.

The Cabinet Secretariat is expected to revert back to the PMO on these proposals shortly.