The central government announced empanelment of 63 senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials belonging to 1987 and 1988 batch for their appointments as additional secretary while 13 other officials were selected for empanelment for additional secretary equivalent postings in the government of India.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued the empanelment list on Wednesday late night.
After combining two batches of 1984 and 1985 for empanelment of IAS officials for secretary level postings last month, the central government now combined two batches 1987 and 1988 for empanelment of IAS officials for additional secretary or equivalent positions in the centre.
From 1987 batch, 30 IAS have been empanelled for additional secretary while nine have been included in the additional secretary equivalent positions, which means they cannot be appointed as additional secretary in any department or ministry but can hold the additional secretary equivalent positions outside the government in regulatory bodies or central PSUs.
Similarly from 1988 batch, total 33 officials were selected for empanelment for additional secretary and four officials were selected for additional secretary equivalent posts.
Approximately 140 officials from two batch were eligible for empanelment out of which total 76 officials have found place in the empanelment list prepared by the DoPT.
Prominent among those empanelled include AK Sharma, a 1988 batch IAS of Gujarat cadre, currently Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and one of the most trusted bureaucrats of Prime Minister Modi.
However, thanks to the government’s newly introduced system to conduct 360 degree review of officials for selection in the central government has led to many officials not getting empanelled.
Introduced in 2016, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) adopted a well known management tool — the 360-degree feedback mechanism — for empanelment of officials for secretary and additional secretary level positions in the government.
In addition to the usual empanelment procedure that includes Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs), the new mechanism gives emphasis to rate officers on all round aptitude, attitude, integrity and character based on feedback derived from peers and others who have worked with inside and outside the government.
“Earlier, around 60 % official used to be empanelled from each batch but after the introduction of 360 degree appraisal system, only 35 to 40 % officials find place in the list” a senior bureaucrat told The Hindu.
