Babus told to keep off awards

Guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training this month have made it mandatory for officials to seek government clearance before accepting any international award.

Don’t drool over international awards, the government has told its babus.

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Guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training this month have made it mandatory for officials to seek government clearance before accepting any international award.

The immediate reason for the guideline was a clarification sought about an unnamed official who was nominated for such an award. “We realised the existing guidelines only covered domestic awards, not international ones and so decided to lay the ground rules,” a DoPT official said.

“A government servant should not strive to seek publicity or international recognition for securing such awards since such efforts could affect his functioning,” the seven-point guideline said.

It asks the government to permit an official only if the award is from a foreign government body, international bodies and academic institution. It imposes a ban on awards from private trusts.

But an official hinted that the government could make an exception if the institute was reputed. “The idea is to discourage bureaucrats from running after awards, some of them possibly conferred by organisations of doubtful reputation.”