CADRE REVIEW OF CENTRAL SERVICES
GROUP `A' - DETAILED GUIDELINES
INTRODUCTION
The Administrative Reforms Commission which examined the existing machinery for the management of different All-India and Central Services Cadres, had in their Report on Personnel Administration made the following recommendations:-
a) For all Services advance projections should be made of the requirements of personnel for five years at a time. Mid-term appraisal also should be made if circumstances warrant it and necessary correvtives made on the basis of the apprisal.
b) Such projections should be made by cadre management committees which should be constituted in the manner described..........
2. The Government of India accepted the above recommendations with modifications that cadre review should be made every three years instead of every five years and that while the user interests need not be associated with the review committees, their requirements may be taken into consideration while making the reviews. It was also laid down that the composition of the Cadre Review Committee would be as follows:-
i) Cabinet Secretary - Chairman
ii) Secretary, Ministry of - Member
Finance, Deptt. of
Expenditure
iii) Secretary, Deptt. of - Member
Personnel & Training
iv) Secretary of the - Member
Ministry controlling
the cadre
At later stages, the Defence Secretary and the senior most member of the cadre under review were also included as members in the Cadre Review Committee.
3. The Department of Personnel & A.R., after studying details of various measures taken by the cadre authorities towards scientific management of their cadres, formulated certain broad guidelines for objective cadre management and circulated the same to all concerned Departments, vide O.M.No.5/1/71-PP(Vol.VI) dated the 6th May,1972,with the request that they set up Cadre Review Committees in the manner prescribed and arrange to have the cadre structures reviewed on a priority basis. This was followed up in March,1973 by an `Approach-Note' on cadre review delineating the various aspects to be considered while preparing proposals for cadre strength reviews.
4. The Third Pay Commission recommended the creation of a standing `Body on Pay and Cadre Management' to be headed by a serving or retired Judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court and having four non-functional members with experience of problems connected with Pay determination job-evaluation, personnel management and other allied matters. While this specific recommendation was not accepted by the Government, it was nonetheless decided that:-
a) A unit may be set up, if necessary, in due course in the Ministry of Finance for dealing with cases of limited pay revisions. In the meanwhile, cases which may arise relating to job evaluation or revision of pay scale of any particular category (Including creation of a new pay scale where necessary) may be dealt with in that Ministry according to normal procedure; and
b) The Department of Personnel & A.R., who are dealing at present with matters relating to cadre management of the all-India and Central Class-I services may also set up a unit, if necessary,indue course for advising theMinistries/Departments of cadre management of various services in Class-II and III as well.
Role of the Department of Personnel & A.R.
5. The Department of Personnel & A.R. is closely associated with work relating to cadre review of various Services. The Department issues guidelines regarding policy and methodology of cadre reviews, examines the proposals prepared by the concerned cadre controlling authority and prepares an analytical brief containing the views of the Department of Personnel & A.R. for the use of members of the Review Committee. The Department maintains liasion with the cadre authorities and provides guidance and expertise in the formulation of proposals for periodic reviews of cadre strength. Recently, it has been decided that the department should take more initiative in regard to the cadre reviews instead of leaving it with the concerned Ministries.
Need for re-orientation of the review process.
6. The overall approach to cadre strength review has recently been re-examined in the Department of Personnel & A.R. in the light of experience gained so far. It has been observed that despite circulation of broad guidelines and the Approach Note (referred to in the earlier paragraphs), the cadre review proposals prepared by the Departments continue to suffer from a number of deficiencies. In particular, the following considertations which are pertinent in determining cadre strength of various Services do not seem to have received adequate attention of cadre authorities:-
a) projection of manpower requirements on scentific lines;
b) utilisation of cadre posts and deployment of cadre officers;
c) objective assessment of future promotion prospects;
d) rationalisation of cadre structure;
e) the level(s) at which various reserves are to be created, their quantum and utilisation and
f) formulation of a realistic recruitment plan.
Keeping in view the above mentioned factors and the comments of various departments, a revised comprehensive set of guidelines has now been drawn up on the subject. The new guidelines which are elaborated in the ensuing sections should facilitate framing of proposals for triennial reviews of cadres with a full understanding of the principles involved. A set of format which may be used in this regard is appended (Appendix).
DETAILED GUIDELINES FOR THE FORMULATION
OF CADRE STRUCTURE REVIEW PROPOSALS.
Objectives
7. The basic objectives of periodical review of a cadre are as follow:-
a) To make advance projections of requirements of personnel for the next three years and to plan recruitment programme on a scientific basis; and
b) To bring about rationalisation of cadre structure with a view to improving the efficiency and morale and enhancing the effectiveness of the Service.
Need for advance planning of personnel requirements:
8. The need for advance planning of the requirements of personnel is to be stressed for following reasons:-
a) Timely recruitment of personnel in adequate numbers is essential to prepare them for future deployment.
b) The process of getting the new posts sanctioned is time consuming.
c) In the absence of advance planning of manpower requirements, there may be violent fluctuations from time to time in the rate or recruitment with obvious adverse effects on the quality of recruits and cadre management.
Rationalising cadre structure
9. The cadre structure of a Service should satisfy the following criteria:-
a) Different grades of the Service should reflect distinctly different levels of duties and responsibilities;
b) Structure of the cadre should be such as to facilitate smooth movement of personnel, both vertical as well as horizontal; and
c) It should promote maximum efficiency commensurate with economy expenditure.
Cadre Strength
10. Basic constitutents of a Central Group `A' Service(cadre) should normally be:-
a) Regular duty posts;
b) Probationers reserves; and
c) Other reserves, viz.
i) Leave Reserve
ii) Training Reserve; and
iii) Deputation Reserve.
The sum total of (a) to (c) would represent what may be called the authorised strength of the cadre of Service. These terms are explained in the following paragraphs:-
Regular Duty Posts:
11. Regular duty posts are those posts in the cadre which carry the functions that fulfil the objectives for which the Service was constituted.
Probationers Reserve
12. Direct recruits are normally given initial training for periods ranging from one year to three years while on probation. The posts against which they are shown during the training period, which includes post-entry institutional as well as on-job training should not be included in the strength of regular duty posts, but should be shown separately as probationers reserve. In case such reserve already forms part of junior duty posts or other reserves, necessary adjustment will have to be made to show it as a separate reserve. If the period of training of a probationer is one year, the size of probationers reserve should be equal to the size of one batch of direct recruits; if the period of training is 2 years, the reserve has to be double the size of a batch; and so on. Where the size of recruitment varies from year to year, the maximum recruitment in one year during the period of review may be taken as the basis for determination of size of reserve.
Other Reserve
13. `Other' reserves comprise leave, training and deputation reserves. There is an important difference between the probationers reserve and `other' reserves. The former is set apart for a definite category of service personnel. viz. fresh recruits directly appointed to the lowest rung of the Service. The latter serve a more general purpose of providing substitutes against vacancies caused due to Service officers proceeding on long leave, training or deputation. For every officer shown against other reserves, there should thus be one officer on leave, training or deputation. Those reserves are needed in order to ensure that the regular duty posts are continuously manned by competent officers and are ordinarily created in the entry grade of the Service. Broad guideline for arriving at the appropriate size of various reserves are given below:-
Leave Reserve
14. Actual utilisation of leave by officers (for at least 45 days at a time) and the utilisation of the existing leave reserve (if any) by the Department during the preceding 3 to 5 years should normally determine the size of leave reserve. In addition, the practicability of filling up of leave vacancies, especially where the duty posts are widely scattered over field formations, may also be examined while determining desired size of the leave reserve.
Training
15. The imperative need for imparting on the job refresher/ professional training periodically to the personnel at various levels of the Service in order to equip them to meet the growing challenges of developmental administration can hardly be over-emphasised. For this purpose, a training reserve of an appropriate size will have to be provided for the cadre structure. The size is to be worked out on the basis of past experience (of, say, the last 5 years) and a well drawn-out programme for training of officers over the next 3 years.
Deputation Reserve
16. Officers of organised Service are in constant demand for manning posts on deputations in the Secretariat and other Headquarter Organisations, Public Sector undertakings etc. Spells of deputation to such ex-cadre posts afford the officers an opportunity to apply and test their knowledge, skills and talents in new fields and situations. Deputation also helps in imparting fresh outlook to their work on return to their organisation. However, while sending officers on deputation, it should be ensured that the essential needs of the service are not sacrificed, nor does it give rise to distortions in the recruitment programme or to other cadre management problems. As regards the size of the deputation reserve, it may be fixed in the light of past experience and the estimated minimum number of officers likely to be away on deputation during the next three years. Once the size of deputation reserve is fixed, a conscious effort should be made to see that there is neither over-utilisation nor under-utilisation so as to avoid problems in the smooth management of the cadre.
Encadrement of ex-cadre posts
17. Often departments create for various reasons, a number of posts having more or less similar functional duties and responsibilities as the cadre posts. Such posts are manned by both cadre officers and those outside the cadre (s). It should be the constant endeavour of cadre authorities to periodically review the position regarding such posts with a view to encadre them keeping in view:-
(a) the nature of functions and responsibilities attached to them;
(b) the likelihood of their continuing; and
(c) the desirability of deploying cadre officers to such posts.
Recruitment Planning
18. Rate of recruitment to a cadre is essentially a function of the maintenance and growth needs of the Service. A third important factor that determine recruitment size is the quantum of `gaps', i.e. the number of vacancies remaining unfilled for a period of one year or more. It would be convenient to discuss recruitment plan under the three main heads representing the three basic components, viz. (1) maintenance needs (ii) growth needs and (iii) gaps. While drawing up the recruitment plan, promotion prospects will also have to kept in view.
Estimation of maintenance needs
19. Maintenance needs arise out of wastage-both normal (due to retirments on superannuation) and abnormal (due to resignations) deaths, dismissals, etc.), Data on the future wastage pattern for say 5 years should be compiled both in respect of direct recruits and promotee officers. In particular some Group `B' officers likely to be promoted to the Service during the next three years may be retiring within the period of review. To smooth out violent annual fluctuations, if any, an average of the next 5 years should be taken to represent the maintenance requirements of the Service/cadre on account of normal retirement. As regards abnormal wastage to resignation, dismissals, deaths, etc., this may be estimated on the basis of actual experience during the past five years.
Estimation of growth needs
20. Each cadre controlling authority should have a reasonable estimate of the future growth rate of personnel say, over the next 5 years. The actual retirements for the next three years (i.e. the period of the triennial review) will have to be worked out as possible. In general, the growth needs of a service will have to be assessed under the following components:-
(a) Normal growth of work in the current functional fields;
(b) New functions/schemes likely to be undertaken
(c) Policy-induced changes relating to:-
i) Organisation/Structure;
ii) Personnel Policy; and
iii) Administrative/procedural reforms.
21. Rate of increase in work load within the existing functions of the service may be studied with reference to past trends and projected progress of on-going schemes/programmes during the next three to five years. Normal growth in work should not generally lead to any significant increase in number of posts unless it can be demonstrated on the basis of quantitative norms that increase in work has a direct bearing on staff strength.
22. Along with progress of on-going schemes, some of which may taper off during the next few years and thereby reduce the requirement of staff on them, a careful study should be made of new programmes/ projects and activities likely to be taken up during the next years. Necessary correlation between financial and physical targets and staff requirements should be established.
23. Policy changes in the personnel field also have an impact on future growth of personnel. Some policy decisions may have been taken or likely to be taken which will have an important bearing on the functions, organisation and structure of the Department/Service. Likely impact of all such changes on the cadre strength should be carefully assessed.
24. A note of caution may be sounded here. The projection of future requirements is not necessarily an extrapolation of past trends for the simple reason that the past conditions might not hold good in the future. Policy changes recently introduced or likely to be introduced often influence the future behaviour pattern of the trend which may not be amenable to quantification. Nevertheless, backed by enlightened judgement and past experience, the cadre authority should still be in a position to assess the growth rate within a reasonable narrow margin or error.
Under Recruitment resulting `gap'
25. A `gap' may be defined as the size of regular vacancies in the cadre persisting continuously for more than a recruitment year, even though such vacancies migth have been filled by ad-hoc appointments. Regular vacancies are long-term vacancies which are required to be filled on a regular basis in accordance with the Recruitment Rules. The main causes of the gaps which usually accumulate in the lowest rung of the service are:-
a) Non-availability of suitable candidates;
b) Deliberate under-recruitment so as to avoid promotion blocks at a later stage or for other reasons; and
c) Defects in recruitment planning, such as failure to make proper allowance for abnormal wastage, delays etc.
A careful examination of the causes should be made so as to arrive at a reasonable figure by which the gap should be reduced and recruitment increased over the next three years.
Adverse effects of over or under recruitment.
26. Under recruitment and ad-hoc appoitments should be avoided as far as possible, as these will create distortions in the cadre. In any case, it should be ensured that ad-hoc appointments do not persist for more than a year at the most. Where ad-hoc appointments are sizeable and have been continuing for long periods creating problems for the Cadre Authority and adversely affecting the morale of officers concerned, bold measures may have to be thought of, say in the directions of a radical restructuring of the cadre, a reassessment of promotion quotas and review of recruitment rules.
Over recruitment is as harmful, if not more, as under recruitment. The former leads to future blockades in promotions. The scope of undoing the damages done by past over-recruitment is very limited. The first objective of recruitment planning should, therefore, be to ensure that recruitment is made regularly every year and the rate of annual intake by direct recruitment and promotion from Group `B' is kept within a fixed optimum rate. A study carried out by the Cadre Review Division has indicated that the optimum rate of annual intake should be 3% of the authorised cadre strength.
If a cadre is suffering from gross under recruitments in the past, the aforesaid optimum rate may fall short of the number required to fill the big gap in the cadre. A sepcial method should be adopted on a one-time basis to ensure that gap is filled without creating future blockades in promotion. An appropriate method would be to hold a limited departmental competitive examination of the eligible Group `B' officers for filling the gap by promotion.
Promotion Trends
27. Promotion prospects are a vital factor affecting the morale and efficiency of the service personnel and hence the effectiveness of the cadre in discharging the role assigned to it. This aspect will, therefore, have to be kept in view while formulating proposals for restructuring a cadre. The Cadre Authority will do well, therefore, to keep under constant observation the trends of promotion/stagnation in the cadre. Constant updating of grade-wise seniority lists helps in correctly assessing promotion trends and prospects. Such updating may be carried out at least once in year i.e. as on first of each calender year. An assessment may be made of the anticipated promotion prospects (as a result of cadre review) vis-a-vis existing (past) promotion trends. A realistic estimate of likely vacancies in each grade for the next three years, drawing up a programme of DPC meetings at regular intervals and strict adherence to planned recruitment programme will reduce the chances of occurance of artificial bottlenecks and infuse in the minds of the Service personnel a sense of confidence in their future.
Recruitment Plan
28. The sum total of maintenance needs and growth needs (including increase in reserve needs) will indicate that total recruitment size for the next three years. To this should be added a part of the gap which is proposed to be made good during the period of review. If one third of the total thus arrived at exceeds 3% of the authorised cadre strength, annual intake should be restricted to 3% only.
`Creation of posts not envisaged by the Cadre Review Committee'.
29. Normally additions to a cadre by way of increasing the number of posts at different levels should be considered only in the course of a triennial cadre review. Mid-review changes should be avoided as far as possible. Regular cadre reviews carried out at triennial intervals must envisage such eventualities while making advance projections for the three year period of additional man-power requirements. Accordingly the need for creating post not envisaged by the Cadre Review Committee before the next cadre is due, can be expected to be rare. In the event, however, of such an eventuality it may be ensured that the additional posts so created conform to the cadre structure most recently approved by Cadre Review Committee. There can, however be no rigidity in this regard. In any case the cadre authority should consult P.P. Division* of the D.P. & A.R. in this regard.
Review By S.I.U.
30. As per the current practice followed by Ministries/Departments no cadre review is initiated in respect of any Service/Cadre which is likely to be effected by the recommendations of a current SIU study of an organisation under a Ministry/Department. The review proposals are required to be drawn up only after the SIU report has been acted upon by the Department concerned. In case, however, SIU happens to undertake a review of an organisation under a Ministry/Department soon after a cadre or cadres controlled by it have been restructured on the recommendations of the Cadre Review Committee, the Department may ensure that SIU finalises its report in consultation with C.R. Division of Department of Personnel & Training in so far as its recommendations may affect the cadre structure/strength of the concerned service(s).
Reference to Ministry of Finance
31. In so far as the cadre review proposals involve only structural changes in the cadre there is no need for prior clearance by the Ministry of Finance. Where, however, cadre review proposals involve introduction of new pay scales and/or changes/adjustment in the pay scales by way of say merger, bifurcation etc., it is desirable to obtain the crearance of the Department of Expenditure before incorporating such changes/adjustments in the cadre review proposals being formulated by the concerned cadre authority.
Presentation of Cadre Review Proposals
32. While considerable latitude will be available to the cadre authorities in preparing and presenting cadre review proposals, it must be ensured that the necessary statistical data are compiled and updated on a continuing basis in the Format given in Appendix. It is also necessary while presenting review proposals to give a sketch of the historical background of the Service, its objectives and the functional and organisational structure of the Cadre/Service, special features peculiar to the Service and difficulties and problems faced during the process of cadre management. Present as well as the proposed organisational structure of the Department and the service showing posts at different levels with their designations, pay scales and the functional inter-relationship among them along with organisational chart should be enclosed with the cadre review proposals. The posts to be upgraded should be identified and the justifications for upgradation should be mentioned. Recruitment Rules, as amended till to date, both respect of Service posts as well as its feeder posts, grade-wise seniority lists updated as on first of the`Current Year'(i.e. Year in which the proposals are being framed) should invariably be attached with the proposal papers. Financial implications of the cadre review proposals should also be indicated. In the Format the reference year may be taken as beginning from first January of the current year. For convenience, however, in the Format attached to these Guidelines, `current year' has been taken as 1992. The other years (preceding/succeding 1992) mentioned in different forms will correspondingly change according to the `current year'.
