Jharkhand State civil services on reform path,BDO and CO will be recalled from field

Ranchi: Following the footsteps of Bihar, Jharkhand government is pushing the bureaucratic reform.The government is in advance stage to overhaul the policy regarding state civil service officers.

Unlike the existing process of giving them first posting as the blocks or circles as Block Development Officers (BDOs) and Circle Officers (COs), the newly recruited civil servant would be positioned in the sub-division or the district headquarters on the posts, which hitherto cost general 10-12 years of service.

This is an important component of the upcoming reforms the state government is likely to implement in coming months.

The proposal, advocated by Advisor to the Governor Vijay Shankar Dubey, envisages creation of a premium service comprising officers from administrative, police, engineering, health and education sectors.

Vijay Shankar Dubey, was the first Chief Secretary of the state, has headed the Bihar Administrative Reforms commission earlier.

On his recommendation, Bihar government has created its premium service cadre and recalled all the BDOs and COs from the field.

Same practice of appointing State civil service officers at the sub-division or district levels is being followed in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, and lately Bihar.

“And it has brought in perceptible change in the governance of the respective states with their delivery system showing remarkable results at the ground level,” Dubey said.

The officers of the premium service cadres would have upgrades pay scales, matching almost those of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

With regard to the posting of officers in blocks and circles, the reform proposal envisages creation of two new service cadres as it has done in Bihar—development and revenue services.

The new system of posting of the Jharkhand administrative service (JAS) officers would also allow them to get promoted up to the Secretary ranks. In the existing set up, they complete their service span by reaching upto the post of Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary.

Dubey said that draft proposal of the reforms has finalized