Accountability
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Officials of All
India Services (IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service) serve in
the States, but are controlled by the Union government. This
dual control should cease, and the services should be under
States' control. Only then are authority and accountability
combined.
Non- arbitrary placements
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Officials are posted
to, and transferred from, senior positions at will .The average
tenure in key offices in many states is less than one year.
There should be public scrutiny and transparent procedures for
key appointments, with guaranteed tenure of 3 to 5 years, and
sufficient autonomy of functioning.
Article 311
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Article 311 of the
Constitution, intended to give protection to senior public servants,
has been applied for all employees of government and public
sector. Its jurisdiction, limited originally to removal of an
employee, has been applied to all service matters, thanks to
liberal interpretation of courts. These anomalies meant that
it is virtually impossible to punish any wrong doing in government.
Article 311 should be applicable
only for removals and dismissals.
Courts jurisdiction on service
matters should be prohibited.
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