Government officers eyeing an extended assignment on deputation in the Central government in Delhi and elsewhere, may have to rethink their plans. The Centre has recently revised the guidelines for deputation. It now rules out a consecutive second deputation in the same place. The revised deputation guidelines issued by the Ministry of personnel and public grievances, state that civil servants are not eligible for a second deputation immediately after completion of their first deputation. They have to return to their parent cadre and serve for a minimum period.
As per the new guidelines, an officer of the rank of a joint secretary or below, will have to serve in the parent cadre for at least three years before being eligible for another deputation. Returning to the parent cadre that is described as the “cool off” period, is also a must for officers of the additional secretary rank but it is only for a period of one year. However, officers of the secretary level rank are excluded from the “cool off” period requirement.
Under the norms that existed so far, an officer can again go back on a second deputation for a second term just after a day’s return to the parent cadre. It is not rare at present that officers stay away from their parent cadre on deputation, mostly with the Centre, for as many as 15 to 20 years.
Revision of the guidelines is learnt to have been brought into effect on the representation from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and several other state governments. Their plea has been that their officers on deputation with the Centre in favoured places like Delhi never returned back to their parent cadre in the state, thereby causing shortage of senior and middle level officers. The Ministry has concluded that absence from parent cadre for long periods causes the officers to lose familiarity with the affairs of the state to which they belong as cadre officers.
The guidelines also state that inter-cadre deputation should not extend for a total period of more than 10 years in the entire service period of the officer concerned. As regards inter-state deputation, the revised guidelines allow for a maximum of five years during the service period, provided that the officer has completed nine years in his parent cadre state and has not reached the super time scale. The revised guidelines also restrict the scope for officers to go on deputation to international organisations like UNO and its affiliates and trusts, and NGOs within the country. The maximum period of deputation available would be five years at a stretch and seven years during the entire service period.