The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : A demoralising wait for career advancement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 02, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

A demoralising wait for career advancement

By V.S. Palaniappan

COIMBATORE, FEB. 1. After 17 years of service, directly-recruited Deputy Collectors who are serving as District Revenue Officers (DRO) are still waiting for career advancement.

According to official sources, the IAS cadre strength in Tamil Nadu is 325. Out of this, one-third of the posts are being filled with officers selected under Group I of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC). In the past, Deputy Collectors, directly recruited through the TNPSC were eligible to become IAS officers after eight years of service. Subsequently, it took 10 or 11 years for them to get inducted into IAS. Now the waiting period has risen to 17 years.

"Those selected as Deputy collector in 1987 were still waiting for induction into the IAS". Many officials have completed 10 years of service as DRO after seven-eight years as Deputy Collectors and the wait for induction into the IAS continues, the sources say. But, the Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), recruited along with them on the basis of the Group-I examination, were inducted into the IPS seven years ago. The DSPs recruited in 1992 were already made IPS officers. "The Deputy Collectors, who were toppers in the Group-I examination, cannot even become Collectors, whereas DSPs who scored lower ranks could easily become DIGs within the same time frame," the sources say.

Dearth of hands

In recruitments by the same agency, cadre anomalies have a demoralising effect on the civil servant. Now there is a dearth of hands for the post of Collectors as DROs have stagnated and because of the limited intake of direct recruit IAS officers in the State, say the sources.

As a result, an officer is allowed to work as Collector for more than three years. In fact, some senior officers have been working as Collectors in two or three districts. For, periodical revision of cadre strength was not done in the past. The A.M Swaminathan Commission recommended cadre reduction only for the IAS and not for the IPS. The Commission indicated that Rs.1 crore could be saved annually by such reduction. But officers who were recruited through the TNPSC feel that the amount is insignificant considering the state budget of Rs 20, 000 crores.

Quality manpower

The DROs point out that the quality of manpower recruited through the TNPSC had improved tremendously after a system similar to that of the Union Public Service Commission was adopted. Now, professional course candidates are allowed to take the examination. They were barred 15 years ago. Many officials selected through the TNPSC were also selected through the UPSC for some post or the other. If the long wait for career advancement continue for the civil servants, it will have a highly demoralising effect, say the sources.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu