The conviction and sentencing of H C Gupta, former coal secretary, by a CBI court for corruption has upset the IAS greatly.
How can IAS be reformed?
IAS has distinct two parts to it- One is its original and core function, to manage the districts; the other is an add-on function, to manage the ministries and policy.
Both needs different skill set which is still not recognised.
Amazingly, the core district management function is performed by the least experienced officers.
The non-core function, on the other hand, is performed by the seniors, regardless of their competence to do so.
Along with it the youngest officers are asked to do the hardest job of managing local politicians.
Two things need to be done to fix this mismatch problem.
One is to build a firewall between the two functions.
The other is to stop the act of the centre “borrowing” officers from the states.
It should have its own permanent cadre – not the central secretariat service which is a servicing force – instead of floaters from the states.
