UPSC chairman says bBoot out inefficient bureaucrats/audit selections

Union Public Service Commission chairman DP Agrawal on Wednesday asked the government to go for a nationwide audit of all appointments and introduce “intense assessments” of bureaucrats at various stages to weed out the dead wood.

Union Public Service Commission chairman DP Agrawal on Wednesday asked the government to go for a nationwide audit of all appointments and introduce “intense assessments” of bureaucrats at various stages to weed out the dead wood.

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Prof. Agrawal said the lifelong job security provided to government servants brought in an element of complacency and inertia.

Emphasising that the emerging dynamics of governance call for a fresh look at the issue of permanent appointment in the civil services vis-à-vis the outcome-based performance, Prof. Agrawal said it was important to have a civil service that is nimble, efficient, impartial, accountable and above all, honest.

“There should be intense assessment of performance of the officers at various stages of their career to weed out dead wood at an early stage,” he said.

The UPSC chairman – who had pushed for reforms in the premier civil services examination for recruitment to the All India Services – also called for an audit to ascertain that the government was selecting the right kind of candidates.

“In most of the Developed countries, an independent authority audits all selections made by different authorities. It may be worthwhile to adopt such a system in our country also,” he said.

Prof. Agrawal said the UPSC could lead such an audit of recruitment made by the large number of recruiting agencies.