THE government has released a list of 12 Indian Economic Service (IES) officers of 1993 batch who were empanelled as Government of India joint secretaries. IES officers are government economists spreading across 55 Central government ministries or departments. The following is the list of 12 new JS-empanelled IES officers:
1. Arun Kumar
2. Santanu Mitra
3. Nilambuj Sharan
4. Gyan Bhushan
5. Mamta Shankar
6. Rajib Kumar Sen
7. Piyush Srivastava
8. Meenaxi Rawat
9. Md Nazmuddin
10. Shyam Singh Negi
11. Ram Karan
12. Nandita Mishra
The Indian Economic Service was set up in 1961, mainly to institutionalize a core professional capacity within the government to “undertake economic analysis and render advice for designing and formulating development policies, strengthening delivery systems, and monitoring and evaluating the public programmes”, according to IES’ official site. But the role and importance of IES officers increased manifold only after 1991 economic liberalization, as the need for economic analysis in government ministries increased thereafter.
But the problem that the IES officers face today is somewhat similar to that of many other Group A services. They get the director's rank well on time, but need to wait for years to get the rank of a joint secretary. And most of the officers retire at this rank only.
According to the latest review of IES, as conducted in 2010 and approved in 2011, the sanctioned strength of the IES cadre is 511 comprising 471 duty posts and 40 leave reserves.
There are 15 posts at the rank of senior adviser or senior economic adviser (additional secretary level) and 5 posts with apex scale (secretary level). In Indian Economic Service, the highest-ranked officers, i.e..those drawing the apex salaries, are called principal advisers.
Indian Economic Service is the perfect substitute for IAS as its officers perform the same task like policy making, policy/programme implementation, macroeconomic management, fiscal and monrtary policy, budget, policy analysis, economic administration, office administration and general administration, advisory and executive role, and almost everything else being performed by IAS etc., besides economic analysis, evaluation etc. Sidelining or backtracking of this important service can only make an inefficient, unjustjust, arbitrary, corrupt, unscientific, authoritative, suppressive, undemocratic and non transparent of a system of administration and governance of the country.
ReplyDeleteThe IES cannot and will not ever wield power. The cadre strength of this service is nearly 500 only officers. However in comparison, IAS has 6000 officers serving All India.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the IRS, Central Secretariat Service (Group A), Forest and the Foreign Services has individually more cadre officers in the civil services and are on deputation in All India.
Economics is a subject; rather than a service. You only need a graduate degree in economics to be eligible for the Economic Service exam. There are many IAS, IRS, Foreign and even a large extent of Central Secretariat Service (Group A who got directly recruited via Civil Services Exam) who have a bachelors and masters degree in economics.
In addition with the dissolving of the Planning Commission, IES officers are not needed any more (as most IES were posted here and doing policy planning). NITI Ayog is now just a think tank and not a policy planning body so IES has now outlived its purpose.
Mr. Kapoor you have failed to understand the objective of IES which was Economic Advice and Administration not planning. Even in Planning Commission IES officers had the role of providing advice on the basis of their analysis not formulation of policies whose right is only with the Legislature neither with Executive nor the Judiciary and IES belongs to Executive wing of the government.
DeleteIt is true that IES has never wielded any power nor shall it in future because of their low strength as compared to IAS but that was not the purpose of constitution of IES so no one should even hope for it.
As far as Economics qualification is concerned you should know very well that only few but not all IAS/IRS/CSS officers have specification in Economics but still they hold offices having high level of Economics involvement because post is decided by seniority not capability.
If fulfilment of purpose is concerned it is IAS that has failed massively as compared to other services because not without any reason has a prestigious firm in Hong Kong called Indian Bureaucracy one of the worst in the world as per a TOI article.
It is time that people disband their false image of all powerful IAS and promote and create more knowledge specific services such as IES/ISS/ESE/IRS etc.
Mr. Kapoor, for your information, the eligibility for appearing in IES is post graduation in Economics, not a bachelors degree.
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