VIJAYAWADA: In a move that would put the career prospects of IAS and IPS officers directly under the control of a politician, the AP government on Saturday issued orders changing the service rules of the All-India Service Officers.
With this, the CM now has the authority to accept annual performance appraisal reports. So far, the chief secretary was the accepting authority for appraisal reports of IAS and IPS officers. This is perhaps the first time in the country that a state government has come out with orders granting the power of “accepting authority” to the chief minister. Under the new orders, the chief secretary is the “reviewing authority” of annual appraisal reports of All-India Service Officers, while the heads of departments are the “reporting authority”. The final decision whether or not to accept the appraisal reports rests with the CM.
Sources, however, said the validity of these orders is doubtful and the Department of Personnel and Training in the central government, which controls All India Service officers, may not accept this if anyone challenges the orders.
In the orders, the state government said that the changes have been made to “ensure uniformity and control of the executive over the administration for effective public service delivery.” Former bureaucrats, however, are divided over whether the GO would stand to legal scrutiny. Some fear that the administration will weaken from inside as IAS and IPS officials may not honour the hierarchy as their appraisal would be cleared by the chief minister himself. K Prabhakar Reddy, former IAS officer, who served in the CMO, told TOI that to his knowledge, no CM in India has made such provisions.