Indian Administration News Bits

No promotion to IAS on quota

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court has ruled against promotion of Rajasthan Administrative Service officers to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) on the basis of reservations.

While their recruitment was done on the basis of reservations, they are not entitled to promotions on the basis of the same criterion, the Court said.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice R. S. Rathore and Justice N. K. Jain gave the ruling in response to as many as 19 petitions from different persons filed at different times starting from 1993.

The petitioners had questioned “out of turn” promotions of officers belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes overlooking the seniority of officers from the general category.

The promotions of Rajasthan Administrative Service officers have been held up for a long time as the issue has been pending in court. In between, in the years 2002 and 2008, the State Government had issued notifications for carrying out the promotions on the basis of the reservation quotas but could not execute it.

The cases of 56 RAS officers are pending for promotion to IAS. The High Court in its order asked the Government to prepare a fresh promotion list.

Trainee IAS officers to enjoy high security cover

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) probationers and officers training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie will soon start 'enjoying' tight security cover.

The Union home ministry has reportedly cleared a proposal to deploy paramilitary force at the premier institute, the cradle of India's top bureaucracy. According to sources, the authorities of the academy - it is under the department of personnel and training - had requested to upgrade its security two years ago.

"The approval has come now. But the government hasn't yet decided which paramilitary force would be deployed at the academy. The choice is between the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)," the sources said, adding that the deployment would be done "very soon". Chances are the ITBP would be assigned the task since it has its sector headquarters, a training centre and a station in Mussoorie.

As of now, the LBSNAA's security is handled by a private agency, which has a skeletal staff of about two dozen personnel.

The Uttarakand government has cited the academy as a vulnerable terror target along with the state assembly in Dehradun. According to recent reports, Doon School and the Indian Military Academy, both situated in Dehradun, are also under threat.

The Mussoorie academy trains over 1,000 civil service officers every year. It runs an annual common foundation course for all recruits of all- India services and central services.