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Context:

• The Centre constituted a single-member committee under the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to examine all documents submitted by probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar to secure her candidature in the civil services.

Main Issue

• Khedkar secured a rank of 821 in the 2022 UPSC Civil Services Examination, and was allotted the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Physically Handicapped (PH) quotas.
• Questions have been raised about her appointment under these categories. Critics have pointed to Khedkar’s well-to-do background to question her OBC (non-creamy layer) status.
• Khedkar also faces multiple allegations of misconduct, from seeking special privileges she is not entitled to as a probationer to using an unauthorised red-blue beacon on her private car, a luxury Audi sedan which she claims to have received as a “gift”.

IAS’s actions as a civil servant are governed primarily by two rules:

1. the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, and
2. the Indian Administrative Service (Probation) Rules, 1954

All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968

Rules on ‘integrity’ of services

All IAS, Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service officers are governed by the AIS (Conduct) Rules from the time they are allotted their service, and begin training.

• AIS (Conduct) Rule 3(1) states: “Every member of the Service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service.”
• Rule 4(1) states that officers must not use their “position or influence” to “secure employment for any member of his family with any private undertaking or NGO”.

Rule related to gifts

• Rule 11(1) states that officers may accept gifts from “near relatives” or “personal friends” with whom they have “no official dealings”, on occasions such as “weddings, anniversaries, funerals and religious functions”.
• However, they must report (to the government) any gift whose value exceeds Rs 25,000.

New additions in 2014:

• Additions included that officers should maintain “high ethical standards, integrity and honesty; political neutrality; accountability and transparency; responsiveness to the public, particularly to the weaker sections; courtesy and good behaviour with the public”.

The Indian Administrative Service (Probation) Rules, 1954

• Rules for probationers last for at least two years after selection to the services.
• This includes the period of the officers’ training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie.
• At the end of two years, officers sit for an examination, after clearing which they are confirmed in their respective services.
• During the probation period, officers draw a fixed salary and travel allowance.
• But they are not entitled to, as a right, a number of benefits that confirmed IAS officers receive, which include, among other things, an official car with a VIP number plate, official accommodation, an official chamber with adequate staff, a constable, etc.

Rule for discharge of probationers

Rule 12 gives the circumstances in which probationers can be discharged. These include, among other things,

• the central government finding the probationer “ineligible for recruitment” or
• “unsuitable to be a member of” the service;
• the probationar “wilfully” neglecting her probationary studies or duties; and
• the probationer lacking in “qualities of mind and character” needed for the service.

Enquiry

• The Centre holds a summary enquiry before passing an order under these rules and the committee will submit its report within two weeks.

Furnishing false information

• Despite her low rank, Khedkar was allotted IAS, India’s premier civil service, due to these quotas.
• However, if her OBC and PH certificates are proven to have been falsified, Probationers are “discharged”, while confirmed officers are “dismissed”.

●Since the batch of 1995, 27% seats in the services have been reserved for the OBC category. ●The Physically Handicapped (PH) reservation was introduced with the batch of 2006 — 3% seats in every category (General, OBC, SC, and ST) are reserved for the differently abled. Current percentage of reservation in central government jobs:

Options before the discharged officers:

• A dismissed officer can challenge her dismissal in court, before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), and the National OBC Commission.
• In the interim, the officer may still continue to be in service.

Other Backward Classes: ● It is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify communities that are educationally or socially backward. ●It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with general castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs). ●The OBCs were found to comprise 52% of the country's population by the Mandal Commission report of 1980 and were determined to be 41% in 2006 when the National Sample Survey Organisation took place. Subdivisions of OBCs ●The OBC category is subdivided into the creamy and non-creamy layers, with only the latter benefiting from reservations in government services and institutions. ●The idea is to specifically benefit those OBC members who come from economically, socially, and educationally less privileged backgrounds. ●This determination is made based on the parents’ income, and occupational background. Creamy layer criteria Non Creamy Layer Criteria For those whose parents work in the private sector: ●Threshold to qualify for the non-creamy layer status is an income of under Rs 8 lakh annually. For those with parents who work in the public sector: ●Income is not taken into account. ●As per DoPT rules, qualification is either parent becoming a Group-A official before the age of 40, or both being Group-B officials with similar ranks.

Important articles to read:

OBC reservation in India

Reservation system in India

Sources

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/puja-khedkar-controversy-what-are-the-rules-governing-civil-servants-9455338/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Backward_Class#:~:text=The%20Other%20Backward%20Class%20(OBC,Tribes%20(SCs%20and%20STs).

PRACTICE QUESTION Q) Discuss the important provisions and implications of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968. Critically discuss its effectiveness in ensuring the accountability and transparency in the functioning of IAS, IPS, and Indian Forest Service officers. (250 words)