FROM CLASS XII TO DIRECT IAS-NEW PROPOSAL

Hoping to transform the steel frame of the Indian administrative set up, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) is set to recommend recruitment of potential civil servants right after the 10+2 as against the present system in which graduation is the minimum education qualification for taking the civil services examination.
There is also a proposal to institute a Senior Executive Service (SES) for Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary level officers who would be “implementing authorities” so far as government schemes are concerned. Yet another proposal is to develop “Domain Expertise”, that is, a system in which a civil servant with about 13-14 years of service is to be promoted and used only in those areas in which he has specialised during this period of service.
These and many other proposals are learnt to be in the final stages of discussion by the ARC headed by M Veerappa Moily. The ARC report on civil services reforms is likely to be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh within the next four to six weeks, according to sources.
Earlier, the P C Hota Committee on Civil Services Reforms, set up by the NDA government, had also recommended a slew of steps, including lowering the minimum and maximum age of those appearing for civil services examinations, but there was no follow up on the report.
What imparts significance to the Second ARC proposal is the fact that Manmohan Singh himself has been keen to reform the civil services. He, in fact, set up a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to see the feasibility of the ARC report on terror, said official sources.
The idea behind the recruitment of 10+2 students as civil servants is to have “fresh, imaginative, clean slates” who will have the “drive” to transform society, according to an ARC member. As per the proposal under discussion, there will be a five-year course for those selected through an all-India examination for civil services; the syllabus will consist of Constitution, public administration, law, etc. This will be followed by a two-year course during which, depending on their inclination and capability, candidates will be allotted different services like the IAS, IPS and the rest.
About 50,000 candidates from among 10+2 students will be shortlisted for Civil Services training through the all-India examination.
The proposal is to establish separate universities or some other institutions to train these prospective civil servants. “Even if all of them do not show the potential to become a civil servant after their admission to the course, the syllabus will be such that they will land good jobs in different sectors after doing the entire or a certain part of the course,” said a source associated with the ARC.
As for graduates and above or those with engineering, management and medical degrees, the proposal is to offer them a “Bridge Course” — after being selected through an examination — to prepare them for civil services.
As for Senior Executive Service (SES) officers, their jobs would be to ensure the implementation of government schemes.
While the Secretary of a particular department under the guidance of the concerned Minister would be involved in policy making and those below a Joint Secretary engaged in“Secretariat works”, the SES officers would be devoted entirely to the implementation part, said sources.
“We would like the states also to follow this model of recruitment of civil servants, but these details can be worked out later,” said an ARC member.
The Second ARC set up in August 2005 has so far submitted eight reports —
Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance,
Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlements and Governance,
Crisis Management,
Ethics in Governance,
Public Order,
Local Governance,
Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution,
Terror.

FOURTH LARGEST WORK FORCE IN THE WORLD BY 2020

India to have fourth of global workforce by 2020: PM Guwahati, Aug 26 (IANS) India is expected to account for a fourth of the world's total skilled workforce by 2020 and the central government is according top priority to higher education, allocating Rs.275,000 crore (Rs.2.75 trillion) to the sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Tuesday. "Our government's effort has been to create the next wave of investment in higher education. And the 11th Five Year Plan which is now under implementation is basically a knowledge investment plan," the prime Minister said. "We have significantly increased allocation to the education sector with a five fold increase to an unprecedented Rs.275,000 crore," he said while addressing faculty and students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Guwahati. The prime minister said the government was trying to extend quality elementary education to all taking major expansions in secondary and higher educations. The idea was to produce some 500 million trained workforce by 2020. Approval had already been granted for eight new IITs, seven Indian Institutes of Management, 16 central universities, 14 world class universities, five Indian Institutes of Science, 10 new National Institutes of Technologies, 20 Information Technology Institutes, and 1,000 polytechnics, he added. "India has the potential to create over 500 million trained people by the year 2020. That would be over a fourth of the global workforce. This big and unique opportunity for India will come from an education revolution that we must undertake as our most important national endeavour." The prime minister also advocated the need for partnerships between the state and the private sector to further boost higher education in the country. "We need to work in close partnership with the corporate sector, non-governmental entities and community organisations. We need to facilitate creative partnerships between the public and private sectors in the field of education including higher education," he said. The prime minister, who then left for New Delhi ending his two-day visit to Assam, had to cancel his visit to the western Kokrajhar district Tuesday due to bad weather, officials said.

Bharat Desh Mahaan

A word from Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam former President of India

You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed country; it is indeed a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. YOU say that our government is inefficient. Our laws are too old.The municipality does not pick up the garbage. The phones don't work. The railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world Mails never reach their destination. Our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say. But what do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name? - YOURS.Give him a face? - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Peddar Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over-stayed, in a restaurant or shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at £10 (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai main kaun hoon? (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost." YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston????? We are still talking of the same YOU. India Sixty – Vision & Mission A project by Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage Page 8 of 14 YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal Commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people’s dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?” He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my son's rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, this is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too… I am echoing J.F. Kennedy's words to his fellow American to relate to Indians? "ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY" Let's do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.

Thank You,

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam