How hard is the hard posting ?

After initially working at Delhi for more than 2 decades I had to move to several other reigons  in the country  covering in the process  Goa,  Andamans and North East  . While the initial understanding was that I would return to Delhi in 2-3 years times , the ex Delhi tenure has kept on stretching. Since several of my colleagues managed to remain at Delhi for longer period and also got back to Delhi after short stints outside Delhi I felt cheated sometimes and wondered whether this banishment from Delhi was fair. However  after maturing through  several destinations away from Delhi I could see the silver lining (pun unintended) and started wondering whether the craze for sticking to Delhi is not an indication of a self centered  individual with an attitude which is not progressive .

Self centered because , although the  job offers  a possibility of rotation to various nooks and corners of the country but a group of people  consider it their divine right to be posted to a metro city , by all possible manipulations  or even if posted outside Delhi they would  try to get a place of choice , such as  one connected by land route  to the country ( so that there is possibility of an overnight train to Delhi!).These divine righted colleagues forget in the process that by cornering the comfort zones they have pushed out many other colleagues in the sun and  forced them to remain at the so called hard postings for longer period . The assumed difficulties of a hard posting would have appeared less uncomfortable and would not have been prolonged if all of us shared the hard areas on equitable basis.But for many mortals  a posting in Delhi injects a feeling of power and immortality which somehow  insulates them from grasping the essence of such mathematical analysis of  a social issue.

The other aspect is that of being less progressive or narrow minded. While moving out from Delhi one is give  subtle hints  that the concept of a true nation state is  also colored by feelings of regionalism in various parts of the country . However  an open minded and mainstreamed  person can easily understand  that even in Delhi  persons coming from other parts of the country need time to accquire respect and acceptability in their social circle. The same process of social acceptability can be expected at other places also . However once you move out and settle down the other benefits of being away from Delhi also become prominent.

First  and foremost is the clean air and relatively tension free work style which prevails at smaller destinations  . And then in due course of time one may (or may not) get to know a bunch of people who can be counted as selfless friends irrespective of their background. The quality and pace of  social life varies from place to place but still social networkings are developed with ample time available for the same without burden of  traffic related worries. The social groups though small ( sometimes very small in fact) are cohesive and homogenous and sometimes based on common interest in readings or movies (downloaded via internet). Natural beauty is always close on hand and if there is a good camera you can get submerged with flickr or Picassa. There is so much to learn about flora and fauna and lifestyle of tribes . And then there are so many opportunities  for water sports , chopper ride , snorkeling and diving which a  person  in Delhi can expect only once or twice in a lifetime as part of some heavily priced vacation.

But...even with all above virtues there will always be a bunch of colleagues who are counting their days for return to Delhi and in the process creating a morbid atmosphere for silent survivors.The best course is to avoid such tear jerkers. In fact with internet and broadband having infiltrated everywhere who needs non virtual friends now.

Public Services Bill 2007: Magna Carta for public servants in India

The Public Services Bill 2007 which is expected to be taken up by the Indian Parliament in the current session is a manifestation of the struggle of the Indian bureaucracy for devising a mechanism which could ensure efficiency and efficacy of public services . The proposed legislation attempts to set up a regulatory and protective framework for making the civil and police officers perform in a competitive atmosphere without interference and without fear of persecution for being upright and impartial. It covers All India Services namely the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Services. State Govts. have the option to extend it to respective state public services.

The bill visualizes setting up of a Central Public Service Authority as the apex agency responsible for coordination, control and monitoring of various structural changes visualized in the proposed enactment. The matters relating to the constitution of the Central Public Authority are dealt in Chapter VI of the Bill.

The Authority is to be headed by a person of eminence with at least 25 years expertise in dealing with public service matters. However the bill prohibhits appointment of a MP or MLA or a person connected to any office in a political pand India's arty to this post. The authority shall have between 3 to 5 members in addition to the Chairperson.

The appointment of Chairperson and members is to be done with approval of the President of India based on recommendations of a selection committee comprising of the Indian Prime Minister , Leader of Opposition, and India's  Home Minister with  the Cabinet Secretary in the Govt. Of India as the convener. The salary and conditions of service of the Chairperson  and the members shall be at par with the Chief Election Commissioner of India and Indian Election Commissioners respectively. The tenure of appointment is proposed as five years or till attaining of age of 65 years.

The Central Govt shall have to compulsorily consult this Central authority on various matters of public services including evolution and monitoring of a Public Service Code and matters relating to ethics in public service as well as the performance management startegy for public services.

The Public Services which shall be covered by the scheme visualized in the Bill have been defined as below:

Public Services” means the All India Services, the Central Services and any other Service and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union notified by the Central Government;

The principles to be followed in the matter of recruitment to public services are contained in Chapter II which highlights that such appointments shall be on basis of merit and open and fair competition.

Chapter II of the bill deals with certain idealistic concepts such as Public Service values and Public Service Codes. Central Services and All India Services have been so far covered by Conduct Rules which have over the years become a patch work quilt of instructions related to behaviour expected of public servants and need restructuring. The bill proposes to reformulate the approach to these matters .

The Public Service Values projected in the new legislation are coined in more poetic language referring to patriotism, and allegiance to law of the nation while simultaneously making reference to other practical aspects such as integrity, honesty,  transparency etc. for the public services.

The bill seeks to ensure preparation of a Public Service Code with the objective of setting standards of good governance for ensuring that public services are carried out with integrity and efficiency. Any breach of public service ethics shall be subject to punishment as per sanctions prescribed in the law.

Chapter IV of the Bill concerns Performance Management and Accountability for the public services .For this purpose a Performance Management Code is to be evolved by the Central Authority .This code will help ensure that the Public Services function as per developmental and management requirements of the State and objective evaluation of performance is facilitated. The code is expected to inject elements of accountability, neutrality , integrity and professionalism of approach in public services.

Chapter V concerns the conditions of service and protection offered to public servants.

The bill proposes to retain the existing jurisdiction and functions of statutory bodies like Union Public Service Commission, Central Vigilance Commission and assigns several responsibilities to cadre controlling authority which include formulation of service rules and a grievance redressal mechanism for public servants.

In course of discharge of it's mandated functions , the Central Authority can seek public opinion on policy matters . It has to also submit an annual report to Govt. on various functional  issues including cases of non consultation or non compliance of it's directions.

The scheme of governance conceived in the bill if accepted and sincerely implemented could metamorphose the picture of public services . Besides offering protection and performance based encouragement it could create a mechanism which is committed to deliver while taking away the interference and pressure tactics which reduce the bureaucratic performance. This will mean depriving the politicians of the unfair advantage which they enjoy today. It is to be seen whether the lawmakers would approve of the suggested changes. Let us keep our fingers crossed.