Refurbishing of Personnel Administration &ndash Scaling New Heights | Famous Books for UPSC Exam (Summary & Tests) PDF Download

 Page 1


1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Th e Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up with a wide mandate to 
prepare a blue print for revamping the public administration system and to suggest measures 
to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and e?  cient administration 
for the country at all levels of government.
1.2 Th ere is a growing realization that many agencies of government are functioning sub-
optimally, and government programmes have not always yielded the desired results. While 
the achievements of the public services are praiseworthy in dealing with the vast expanded 
responsibilities since Independence and especially during di?  cult periods of crisis, they 
are often de? cient in crucial areas such as productivity, responsiveness, accountability and 
integrity . Authority frequently appears to be divorced from accountability , leading to a system 
of realistic and plausible alibis for non-performance. Ine?  ciency, corruption and delays 
have become, in public perception, the hallmarks of public administration in India.
1.3 Administration should be reformed to bring about improved transparency, greater 
accountability and streamlining of the structure of government, based on decentralization, 
civil services reform, an open and responsive government, rule of law , ? scal and environmental 
sustainability and elimination of all forms of corruption. Th ere is need to restructure our 
governance institutions and rejuvenate our administrative system so that it can respond 
to the growing challenges of governance. Th e State needs to reorient its focus on the core 
functions of government such as maintaining peace and stability in the country and the 
task of social investment and provision of public goods through investment in the social 
sectors like health and education, as these are critical to lifting people out of abject need, 
preventing inter-generational transmission of poverty, long term development of human 
capital, achievement of full human potential and promotion of rapid, sustainable and 
equitable economic growth.
1.4 Public servants today are at the helm of complex challenges of administration in critical 
sectors like policing, education, healthcare, transportation, land management, infrastructure, 
skill promotion, employment generation, rural development and urban management. All 
these are intricate issues, which call for domain expertise, long experience in the sector, and 
PS21 Public Service for the 21st Century (Singapore)
PSC Public Service Commission
PSD Public Services Division (Singapore)
PSUs Public Sector Undertakings
RBSS Railway Board Secretariat Service 
RTI Right to Information
SAG` Senior Administrative Grade
SC/STs Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
SCOS Special Committee of Secretaries
SCS Singapore Civil Service
SES Senior Executive Service
SHO Station House O?  cer
SPARC Second Provisional Administrative Reforms Commission (Japan)
SPIPA Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration
SQIU Improvement Unit (Singapore)
SVPNPA Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
TERI Th e Energy and Research Institute
UDCs Upper Division Clerks
UK United Kingdom
UPSC Union Public Service Commission
USA United States of America
UTs Union Territories
YASHADA Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration
xxii
Page 2


1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Th e Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up with a wide mandate to 
prepare a blue print for revamping the public administration system and to suggest measures 
to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and e?  cient administration 
for the country at all levels of government.
1.2 Th ere is a growing realization that many agencies of government are functioning sub-
optimally, and government programmes have not always yielded the desired results. While 
the achievements of the public services are praiseworthy in dealing with the vast expanded 
responsibilities since Independence and especially during di?  cult periods of crisis, they 
are often de? cient in crucial areas such as productivity, responsiveness, accountability and 
integrity . Authority frequently appears to be divorced from accountability , leading to a system 
of realistic and plausible alibis for non-performance. Ine?  ciency, corruption and delays 
have become, in public perception, the hallmarks of public administration in India.
1.3 Administration should be reformed to bring about improved transparency, greater 
accountability and streamlining of the structure of government, based on decentralization, 
civil services reform, an open and responsive government, rule of law , ? scal and environmental 
sustainability and elimination of all forms of corruption. Th ere is need to restructure our 
governance institutions and rejuvenate our administrative system so that it can respond 
to the growing challenges of governance. Th e State needs to reorient its focus on the core 
functions of government such as maintaining peace and stability in the country and the 
task of social investment and provision of public goods through investment in the social 
sectors like health and education, as these are critical to lifting people out of abject need, 
preventing inter-generational transmission of poverty, long term development of human 
capital, achievement of full human potential and promotion of rapid, sustainable and 
equitable economic growth.
1.4 Public servants today are at the helm of complex challenges of administration in critical 
sectors like policing, education, healthcare, transportation, land management, infrastructure, 
skill promotion, employment generation, rural development and urban management. All 
these are intricate issues, which call for domain expertise, long experience in the sector, and 
PS21 Public Service for the 21st Century (Singapore)
PSC Public Service Commission
PSD Public Services Division (Singapore)
PSUs Public Sector Undertakings
RBSS Railway Board Secretariat Service 
RTI Right to Information
SAG` Senior Administrative Grade
SC/STs Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
SCOS Special Committee of Secretaries
SCS Singapore Civil Service
SES Senior Executive Service
SHO Station House O?  cer
SPARC Second Provisional Administrative Reforms Commission (Japan)
SPIPA Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration
SQIU Improvement Unit (Singapore)
SVPNPA Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
TERI Th e Energy and Research Institute
UDCs Upper Division Clerks
UK United Kingdom
UPSC Union Public Service Commission
USA United States of America
UTs Union Territories
YASHADA Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration
xxii 3
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
Page 3


1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Th e Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up with a wide mandate to 
prepare a blue print for revamping the public administration system and to suggest measures 
to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and e?  cient administration 
for the country at all levels of government.
1.2 Th ere is a growing realization that many agencies of government are functioning sub-
optimally, and government programmes have not always yielded the desired results. While 
the achievements of the public services are praiseworthy in dealing with the vast expanded 
responsibilities since Independence and especially during di?  cult periods of crisis, they 
are often de? cient in crucial areas such as productivity, responsiveness, accountability and 
integrity . Authority frequently appears to be divorced from accountability , leading to a system 
of realistic and plausible alibis for non-performance. Ine?  ciency, corruption and delays 
have become, in public perception, the hallmarks of public administration in India.
1.3 Administration should be reformed to bring about improved transparency, greater 
accountability and streamlining of the structure of government, based on decentralization, 
civil services reform, an open and responsive government, rule of law , ? scal and environmental 
sustainability and elimination of all forms of corruption. Th ere is need to restructure our 
governance institutions and rejuvenate our administrative system so that it can respond 
to the growing challenges of governance. Th e State needs to reorient its focus on the core 
functions of government such as maintaining peace and stability in the country and the 
task of social investment and provision of public goods through investment in the social 
sectors like health and education, as these are critical to lifting people out of abject need, 
preventing inter-generational transmission of poverty, long term development of human 
capital, achievement of full human potential and promotion of rapid, sustainable and 
equitable economic growth.
1.4 Public servants today are at the helm of complex challenges of administration in critical 
sectors like policing, education, healthcare, transportation, land management, infrastructure, 
skill promotion, employment generation, rural development and urban management. All 
these are intricate issues, which call for domain expertise, long experience in the sector, and 
PS21 Public Service for the 21st Century (Singapore)
PSC Public Service Commission
PSD Public Services Division (Singapore)
PSUs Public Sector Undertakings
RBSS Railway Board Secretariat Service 
RTI Right to Information
SAG` Senior Administrative Grade
SC/STs Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
SCOS Special Committee of Secretaries
SCS Singapore Civil Service
SES Senior Executive Service
SHO Station House O?  cer
SPARC Second Provisional Administrative Reforms Commission (Japan)
SPIPA Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration
SQIU Improvement Unit (Singapore)
SVPNPA Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
TERI Th e Energy and Research Institute
UDCs Upper Division Clerks
UK United Kingdom
UPSC Union Public Service Commission
USA United States of America
UTs Union Territories
YASHADA Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration
xxii 3
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
2
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
Page 4


1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Th e Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up with a wide mandate to 
prepare a blue print for revamping the public administration system and to suggest measures 
to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and e?  cient administration 
for the country at all levels of government.
1.2 Th ere is a growing realization that many agencies of government are functioning sub-
optimally, and government programmes have not always yielded the desired results. While 
the achievements of the public services are praiseworthy in dealing with the vast expanded 
responsibilities since Independence and especially during di?  cult periods of crisis, they 
are often de? cient in crucial areas such as productivity, responsiveness, accountability and 
integrity . Authority frequently appears to be divorced from accountability , leading to a system 
of realistic and plausible alibis for non-performance. Ine?  ciency, corruption and delays 
have become, in public perception, the hallmarks of public administration in India.
1.3 Administration should be reformed to bring about improved transparency, greater 
accountability and streamlining of the structure of government, based on decentralization, 
civil services reform, an open and responsive government, rule of law , ? scal and environmental 
sustainability and elimination of all forms of corruption. Th ere is need to restructure our 
governance institutions and rejuvenate our administrative system so that it can respond 
to the growing challenges of governance. Th e State needs to reorient its focus on the core 
functions of government such as maintaining peace and stability in the country and the 
task of social investment and provision of public goods through investment in the social 
sectors like health and education, as these are critical to lifting people out of abject need, 
preventing inter-generational transmission of poverty, long term development of human 
capital, achievement of full human potential and promotion of rapid, sustainable and 
equitable economic growth.
1.4 Public servants today are at the helm of complex challenges of administration in critical 
sectors like policing, education, healthcare, transportation, land management, infrastructure, 
skill promotion, employment generation, rural development and urban management. All 
these are intricate issues, which call for domain expertise, long experience in the sector, and 
PS21 Public Service for the 21st Century (Singapore)
PSC Public Service Commission
PSD Public Services Division (Singapore)
PSUs Public Sector Undertakings
RBSS Railway Board Secretariat Service 
RTI Right to Information
SAG` Senior Administrative Grade
SC/STs Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
SCOS Special Committee of Secretaries
SCS Singapore Civil Service
SES Senior Executive Service
SHO Station House O?  cer
SPARC Second Provisional Administrative Reforms Commission (Japan)
SPIPA Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration
SQIU Improvement Unit (Singapore)
SVPNPA Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
TERI Th e Energy and Research Institute
UDCs Upper Division Clerks
UK United Kingdom
UPSC Union Public Service Commission
USA United States of America
UTs Union Territories
YASHADA Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration
xxii 3
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
2
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
and the welfare of the community as a whole is often forgotten. Th e perception of 
the civil services today is of a vast impersonal organization without commitment 
to human needs and values. It is necessary to redress the situation particularly 
in this era of participative democracy by making the governance apparatus an 
instrument of service to the people.
• Accountability: Th ere is a general feeling that existing mechanisms of accountability 
are inadequate. On the one hand, there are alibis for non-performance and on 
the other, competence and integrity are not adequately recognized or rewarded. 
Th erefore, innovative and e? ective mechanisms need to be put in place to protect 
public money, guarantee intended outcomes and enforce accountability.
• Outcome orientation: Monitoring in government is primarily through measurement 
of expenditure against outlays and at best through de? ned outputs. Clearly, there 
is need to move towards measurement of outcomes. A change in this direction has 
already started with the initial outcome budgeting exercises. In order to engineer 
this shift to outcomes, major changes in attitudes, monitoring and evaluation 
systems, incentives and accountability measures are necessary.
• Promoting public service values and ethics: Apart from the traditional civil service 
values of e?  ciency, integrity, accountability and patriotism, it is necessary for 
civil servants to inculcate and adopt ethical and moral values including probity 
in public life, respect for human rights and compassion for the downtrodden and 
commitment to their welfare. 
Th ese core principles and the issues emanating from them have been analyzed in detail in 
various chapters of this Report.
1.9 During its visit to the States, the Commission held detailed discussions with the 
Governors and Chief Ministers, retired civil servants, eminent public personalities, o?  cers 
of State Governments and members of the public and the media. Th e Commission also 
organized a series of consultations with the Central and All India Services. Th e Commission 
held two workshops organized jointly with the Management Development Institute (MDI), 
Gurgaon and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi respectively. 
Discussions were also held with the Secretaries to the Government of India and Heads of 
Departments. In addition, the Commission took assistance of several experts to get a deeper 
understanding of the di? erent aspects of administration. Th e Commission had discussions 
with heads of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers 
5
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and several corporate leaders. Th e Commission also 
visited Singapore, Australia, Th ailand, France and the United Kingdom and had extensive 
discussions with the authorities there in order to understand the process of reform of public 
administration in those countries.
1.10 Th e Commission would like to thank Shri S.K. Das, Consultant of the ARC for 
providing very important inputs in drafting this Report. Th e Commission is grateful to Prof 
D.P . Agarwal, Chairman, UPSC, Shri Subir Dutta, Former Chairman, UPSC and Shri K. 
Roy Paul, Member, UPSC for sharing their views on civil services reforms. Th e Commission 
acknowledges the valuable suggestions of Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon on the subject of 
post-school grooming for civil servants. Th e Commission would also like to thank Shri 
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament and President FICCI and other members 
of FICCI for their valuable suggestions; the Commission would like to thank Shri K.V. 
Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive O?  cer of ICICI Bank Limited and 
President CII and Shri K Ram Kumar, Group Chief Human Resources O?  cer, ICICI 
Bank, for presenting the human resources management practices in the corporate sector. 
Th e Commission is grateful to Shri T.V. Rao for his contribution to the section on the 
performance management systems and to Prof. Pradip Khandwalla for preparing a Report on 
the Organisational Structure of Government. Th e Commission acknowledges its gratitude 
for the very useful suggestions made by eminent retired civil servants, including former 
Cabinet Secretaries, former Secretaries to Government and former Heads of Central Police 
Organisations, at a meeting held in Delhi. Th e Commission expresses its gratitude to the 
World Bank, India o?  ce and Shri Vikram Chand, Senior Public Sector Management 
Specialist, Dr. Prajapati T rivedi, Senior Economist World Bank and Shri K. Sarwar Lateef, 
Governance Specialist, for giving a global perspective on public services reforms and 
good governance. Th e Commission would also like to thank Shri J.C. Pant, Chairman, 
Administrative Reforms Commission, Uttarakhand and the Chairman and Members of 
the Tamil Nadu State Administrative Reforms Commission and Bihar Administrative 
Reforms Committee for sharing their views on various reform measures proposed by
them. Th e Commission acknowledges the contribution of a large number of o?  cers and 
experts including Shri Naved Masood, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry 
of Health and Family Welfare, Shri K.P . Krishnan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, 
Shri O.P . Agarwal, Former Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Shri 
Rakesh Hooja, Additional Chief Secretary (T raining) and Director, HCM, RIPA and Shri 
Hasmukh Adhia, Director General, SPIPA. Th e Commission is grateful to the Chairman 
and Members of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, with whom the Commission had  
very useful discussions. Th e Commission is thankful to DFID India o?  ce for a very useful 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
Page 5


1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Th e Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up with a wide mandate to 
prepare a blue print for revamping the public administration system and to suggest measures 
to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and e?  cient administration 
for the country at all levels of government.
1.2 Th ere is a growing realization that many agencies of government are functioning sub-
optimally, and government programmes have not always yielded the desired results. While 
the achievements of the public services are praiseworthy in dealing with the vast expanded 
responsibilities since Independence and especially during di?  cult periods of crisis, they 
are often de? cient in crucial areas such as productivity, responsiveness, accountability and 
integrity . Authority frequently appears to be divorced from accountability , leading to a system 
of realistic and plausible alibis for non-performance. Ine?  ciency, corruption and delays 
have become, in public perception, the hallmarks of public administration in India.
1.3 Administration should be reformed to bring about improved transparency, greater 
accountability and streamlining of the structure of government, based on decentralization, 
civil services reform, an open and responsive government, rule of law , ? scal and environmental 
sustainability and elimination of all forms of corruption. Th ere is need to restructure our 
governance institutions and rejuvenate our administrative system so that it can respond 
to the growing challenges of governance. Th e State needs to reorient its focus on the core 
functions of government such as maintaining peace and stability in the country and the 
task of social investment and provision of public goods through investment in the social 
sectors like health and education, as these are critical to lifting people out of abject need, 
preventing inter-generational transmission of poverty, long term development of human 
capital, achievement of full human potential and promotion of rapid, sustainable and 
equitable economic growth.
1.4 Public servants today are at the helm of complex challenges of administration in critical 
sectors like policing, education, healthcare, transportation, land management, infrastructure, 
skill promotion, employment generation, rural development and urban management. All 
these are intricate issues, which call for domain expertise, long experience in the sector, and 
PS21 Public Service for the 21st Century (Singapore)
PSC Public Service Commission
PSD Public Services Division (Singapore)
PSUs Public Sector Undertakings
RBSS Railway Board Secretariat Service 
RTI Right to Information
SAG` Senior Administrative Grade
SC/STs Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
SCOS Special Committee of Secretaries
SCS Singapore Civil Service
SES Senior Executive Service
SHO Station House O?  cer
SPARC Second Provisional Administrative Reforms Commission (Japan)
SPIPA Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration
SQIU Improvement Unit (Singapore)
SVPNPA Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
TERI Th e Energy and Research Institute
UDCs Upper Division Clerks
UK United Kingdom
UPSC Union Public Service Commission
USA United States of America
UTs Union Territories
YASHADA Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration
xxii 3
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
2
deep insights into the social and economic realities, besides qualities of leadership and the 
capacity to manage and respond to change. Processes of civil service recruitment, periodic 
training, promotion and posting strategies and career management have to be reformed 
urgently to help the public servants develop such skills. Th ere is need to foster excellence 
in the public systems, and attract continuously the best talent and expertise while ensuring 
that they are citizen-centric. 
1.5 Administration must become far more accountable and e? ective in delivering results 
with the same expenditure. In order to accomplish these goals, there should be conscious 
e? orts to establish the links and fuse authority with accountability. While compliance with 
processes is important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to 
be simpli? ed and changed from time to time. Priority needs to be given to ensuring that 
the intended outcomes bene? t society. Th ere is need to redesign our delivery mechanisms 
in an innovative manner based on past experience and best practices and deploy the nation’s 
? nest talent for this purpose.
1.6 Although several Commissions and Committees have been set up in the past to examine 
various aspects of public administration, a comprehensive review of the entire public 
administration system was last done by the First Administrative Reforms Commission, 
which was set-up in 1966. Since then, several important changes and developments have 
taken place driven by the pressing need to reform, rapid changes in technology including 
information technology and signi? cant institutional changes like the emergence of a 
constitutionally-mandated system of local government in our country. Th is has obviously 
necessitated the need for a comprehensive review of public administration as mandated 
for this Commission.
1.7 In any system the quality of public servants is the key determinant of outcomes. 
It is in this context that this Report of the Commission, on Refurbishing of Personnel 
Administration, is critical to its wider mandate. Speci? cally under this T erm of Reference, 
the Commission is required to look into the following aspects of administration:-
(i) Review the policy relating to and all methods of recruitment, training and 
placement and suggest changes, if required.
(ii) Provide guidelines for enhancing performance of civil servants and its 
appraisal.
(iii) Improved methods of cadre management focusing on career progression, 
motivation and productivity enhancement.
(iv) Strategies for upgradation of skills and competencies of civil servants and 
administrative cadres and appropriate interventions for capacity building.
(v) Linking of performance of Civil Servants and Government personnel to social 
and economic objectives and outcomes.
1.8 T o get a deeper understanding and feedback on the issues pertaining to the civil services, 
the ARC formulated two comprehensive questionnaires [Annexures I(1) and I(2)]. Th e 
questionnaires also highlighted the Commission’s approach to the key principles of civil 
services reform which need to be particularly emphasized. Th ese are mentioned below:
• Setting right the asymmetry of power: It was noted that there is an imbalance in the 
exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities 
and over-centralization make public servants ine? ective and helpless in achieving 
positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority 
through ? agrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually 
unchecked. Th is situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our 
society. Th e ‘privileged’ government position gives even the lower government 
functionaries, enormous power over most of the citizens given the abject poverty, 
illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. Th is needs to be set right in any e? ort 
towards public services reforms.
• Insulating civil servants from undue political interference: In a democracy, the civil 
service has to be answerable to the elected government. Th ere is criticism, however, 
that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the Rule of 
Law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. Th is is adversely a? ecting 
the morale of public servants. Th e relationship between the political executive and 
the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, 
respect and recognition of each other’s distinct roles and responsibilities. 
• Professionalisation with stability of tenure and competition: Th ere is need to recognize 
the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activities. 
Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the 
sectors concerned. Th ere is also need to foster excellence in the public system. 
Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain 
expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.
• Citizen-centric administration: Th e fact that the functioning of the civil services has 
an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well being of the citizen 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
and the welfare of the community as a whole is often forgotten. Th e perception of 
the civil services today is of a vast impersonal organization without commitment 
to human needs and values. It is necessary to redress the situation particularly 
in this era of participative democracy by making the governance apparatus an 
instrument of service to the people.
• Accountability: Th ere is a general feeling that existing mechanisms of accountability 
are inadequate. On the one hand, there are alibis for non-performance and on 
the other, competence and integrity are not adequately recognized or rewarded. 
Th erefore, innovative and e? ective mechanisms need to be put in place to protect 
public money, guarantee intended outcomes and enforce accountability.
• Outcome orientation: Monitoring in government is primarily through measurement 
of expenditure against outlays and at best through de? ned outputs. Clearly, there 
is need to move towards measurement of outcomes. A change in this direction has 
already started with the initial outcome budgeting exercises. In order to engineer 
this shift to outcomes, major changes in attitudes, monitoring and evaluation 
systems, incentives and accountability measures are necessary.
• Promoting public service values and ethics: Apart from the traditional civil service 
values of e?  ciency, integrity, accountability and patriotism, it is necessary for 
civil servants to inculcate and adopt ethical and moral values including probity 
in public life, respect for human rights and compassion for the downtrodden and 
commitment to their welfare. 
Th ese core principles and the issues emanating from them have been analyzed in detail in 
various chapters of this Report.
1.9 During its visit to the States, the Commission held detailed discussions with the 
Governors and Chief Ministers, retired civil servants, eminent public personalities, o?  cers 
of State Governments and members of the public and the media. Th e Commission also 
organized a series of consultations with the Central and All India Services. Th e Commission 
held two workshops organized jointly with the Management Development Institute (MDI), 
Gurgaon and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi respectively. 
Discussions were also held with the Secretaries to the Government of India and Heads of 
Departments. In addition, the Commission took assistance of several experts to get a deeper 
understanding of the di? erent aspects of administration. Th e Commission had discussions 
with heads of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers 
5
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and several corporate leaders. Th e Commission also 
visited Singapore, Australia, Th ailand, France and the United Kingdom and had extensive 
discussions with the authorities there in order to understand the process of reform of public 
administration in those countries.
1.10 Th e Commission would like to thank Shri S.K. Das, Consultant of the ARC for 
providing very important inputs in drafting this Report. Th e Commission is grateful to Prof 
D.P . Agarwal, Chairman, UPSC, Shri Subir Dutta, Former Chairman, UPSC and Shri K. 
Roy Paul, Member, UPSC for sharing their views on civil services reforms. Th e Commission 
acknowledges the valuable suggestions of Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon on the subject of 
post-school grooming for civil servants. Th e Commission would also like to thank Shri 
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament and President FICCI and other members 
of FICCI for their valuable suggestions; the Commission would like to thank Shri K.V. 
Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive O?  cer of ICICI Bank Limited and 
President CII and Shri K Ram Kumar, Group Chief Human Resources O?  cer, ICICI 
Bank, for presenting the human resources management practices in the corporate sector. 
Th e Commission is grateful to Shri T.V. Rao for his contribution to the section on the 
performance management systems and to Prof. Pradip Khandwalla for preparing a Report on 
the Organisational Structure of Government. Th e Commission acknowledges its gratitude 
for the very useful suggestions made by eminent retired civil servants, including former 
Cabinet Secretaries, former Secretaries to Government and former Heads of Central Police 
Organisations, at a meeting held in Delhi. Th e Commission expresses its gratitude to the 
World Bank, India o?  ce and Shri Vikram Chand, Senior Public Sector Management 
Specialist, Dr. Prajapati T rivedi, Senior Economist World Bank and Shri K. Sarwar Lateef, 
Governance Specialist, for giving a global perspective on public services reforms and 
good governance. Th e Commission would also like to thank Shri J.C. Pant, Chairman, 
Administrative Reforms Commission, Uttarakhand and the Chairman and Members of 
the Tamil Nadu State Administrative Reforms Commission and Bihar Administrative 
Reforms Committee for sharing their views on various reform measures proposed by
them. Th e Commission acknowledges the contribution of a large number of o?  cers and 
experts including Shri Naved Masood, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry 
of Health and Family Welfare, Shri K.P . Krishnan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, 
Shri O.P . Agarwal, Former Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Shri 
Rakesh Hooja, Additional Chief Secretary (T raining) and Director, HCM, RIPA and Shri 
Hasmukh Adhia, Director General, SPIPA. Th e Commission is grateful to the Chairman 
and Members of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, with whom the Commission had  
very useful discussions. Th e Commission is thankful to DFID India o?  ce for a very useful 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights
and the welfare of the community as a whole is often forgotten. Th e perception of 
the civil services today is of a vast impersonal organization without commitment 
to human needs and values. It is necessary to redress the situation particularly 
in this era of participative democracy by making the governance apparatus an 
instrument of service to the people.
• Accountability: Th ere is a general feeling that existing mechanisms of accountability 
are inadequate. On the one hand, there are alibis for non-performance and on 
the other, competence and integrity are not adequately recognized or rewarded. 
Th erefore, innovative and e? ective mechanisms need to be put in place to protect 
public money, guarantee intended outcomes and enforce accountability.
• Outcome orientation: Monitoring in government is primarily through measurement 
of expenditure against outlays and at best through de? ned outputs. Clearly, there 
is need to move towards measurement of outcomes. A change in this direction has 
already started with the initial outcome budgeting exercises. In order to engineer 
this shift to outcomes, major changes in attitudes, monitoring and evaluation 
systems, incentives and accountability measures are necessary.
• Promoting public service values and ethics: Apart from the traditional civil service 
values of e?  ciency, integrity, accountability and patriotism, it is necessary for 
civil servants to inculcate and adopt ethical and moral values including probity 
in public life, respect for human rights and compassion for the downtrodden and 
commitment to their welfare. 
Th ese core principles and the issues emanating from them have been analyzed in detail in 
various chapters of this Report.
1.9 During its visit to the States, the Commission held detailed discussions with the 
Governors and Chief Ministers, retired civil servants, eminent public personalities, o?  cers 
of State Governments and members of the public and the media. Th e Commission also 
organized a series of consultations with the Central and All India Services. Th e Commission 
held two workshops organized jointly with the Management Development Institute (MDI), 
Gurgaon and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi respectively. 
Discussions were also held with the Secretaries to the Government of India and Heads of 
Departments. In addition, the Commission took assistance of several experts to get a deeper 
understanding of the di? erent aspects of administration. Th e Commission had discussions 
with heads of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers 
4
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and several corporate leaders. Th e Commission also 
visited Singapore, Australia, Th ailand, France and the United Kingdom and had extensive 
discussions with the authorities there in order to understand the process of reform of public 
administration in those countries.
1.10 Th e Commission would like to thank Shri S.K. Das, Consultant of the ARC for 
providing very important inputs in drafting this Report. Th e Commission is grateful to Prof 
D.P . Agarwal, Chairman, UPSC, Shri Subir Dutta, Former Chairman, UPSC and Shri K. 
Roy Paul, Member, UPSC for sharing their views on civil services reforms. Th e Commission 
acknowledges the valuable suggestions of Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon on the subject of 
post-school grooming for civil servants. Th e Commission would also like to thank Shri 
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament and President FICCI and other members 
of FICCI for their valuable suggestions; the Commission would like to thank Shri K.V. 
Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive O?  cer of ICICI Bank Limited and 
President CII and Shri K Ram Kumar, Group Chief Human Resources O?  cer, ICICI 
Bank, for presenting the human resources management practices in the corporate sector. 
Th e Commission is grateful to Shri T.V. Rao for his contribution to the section on the 
performance management systems and to Prof. Pradip Khandwalla for preparing a Report on 
the Organisational Structure of Government. Th e Commission acknowledges its gratitude 
for the very useful suggestions made by eminent retired civil servants, including former 
Cabinet Secretaries, former Secretaries to Government and former Heads of Central Police 
Organisations, at a meeting held in Delhi. Th e Commission expresses its gratitude to the 
World Bank, India o?  ce and Shri Vikram Chand, Senior Public Sector Management 
Specialist, Dr. Prajapati T rivedi, Senior Economist World Bank and Shri K. Sarwar Lateef, 
Governance Specialist, for giving a global perspective on public services reforms and 
good governance. Th e Commission would also like to thank Shri J.C. Pant, Chairman, 
Administrative Reforms Commission, Uttarakhand and the Chairman and Members of 
the Tamil Nadu State Administrative Reforms Commission and Bihar Administrative 
Reforms Committee for sharing their views on various reform measures proposed by
them. Th e Commission acknowledges the contribution of a large number of o?  cers and 
experts including Shri Naved Masood, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry 
of Health and Family Welfare, Shri K.P . Krishnan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, 
Shri O.P . Agarwal, Former Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Shri 
Rakesh Hooja, Additional Chief Secretary (T raining) and Director, HCM, RIPA and Shri 
Hasmukh Adhia, Director General, SPIPA. Th e Commission is grateful to the Chairman 
and Members of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, with whom the Commission had  
very useful discussions. Th e Commission is thankful to DFID India o?  ce for a very useful 
Introduction Refurbishing of Personnel Administation – Scaling New Heights