The government has introduced a policy to fix an upper limit on the number of years officers can serve in the personal staff of Union Ministers. This decision by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet aims to manage cadre and prevent prolonged periods of service. A total ceiling of ten years is set, beyond which an officer cannot be appointed to personal staff, irrespective of their level. When an officer is appointed to personal staff, cadre authorities must verify their previous service tenure. Their total tenure in personal staff roles is restricted to a maximum of ten years, with a sub-limit of five years for positions like Private Secretary and OSD to the Minister within this overall limit. These ceilings apply inclusively to roles at Under Secretary or lower levels. No relaxation will be granted for these conditions. However, personal staff appointed to the Prime Minister’s Office are exempt from these provisions.
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MOST IMMEDIATE
No.31/65/2009-EO (MM-I)
Government of India
Department of Personnel \& Training
(Office of the Establishment Officer)
New Delhi, dated 04.03.2010.
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject: Policy on fixing an upper limit of the number of years for which officers can work in the personal staff of the Union Minister in their entire careers.
The issue of officers working in the personal staff of Ministers for long periods of time has been engaging the attention of the Govemment for quite some time. The various Departments/Services recruit officers to man their respective organizations and it is not in the interest of the cadre management of an organization to let its officers be out of their cadres for prolonged periods of time.
2. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has decided that
(i) A total ceiling of ten years be prescribed beyond which an officer may not be permitted to be appointed in the personal staff of Ministers, irrespective of level.
(ii) Every time an appointment in the personal staff is made, the cadre authorities may check whether the officer has worked in the personal staff of a Minister earlier and if so, his total tenure be restricted to not more than ten years in his entire career. Further, his tenure as Private Secretary and OSD to the Minister should be limited to five years within this overall limit, on the personal staff of the Minister.
(iii) The ceiling of ten years and the sub limit of five years for PS/OSD with the ceiling of ten years, in the personal staff would be adhered to while processing the cases for appointments of PSs and OSDs. The tenure provided in all such cases would be inclusive of any stint that the officer may have worked in, earlier at Under Secretary or lower levels also in the personal staff of any Minister.
(iv) No relaxation will be granted to the above conditions.
(v) The Personal staff appointed in the Prime Minister’s Office may be exempted from the above provisions.
(Trishaljit Sethi)
Director
To,
All Secretaries to the Government of India.
Copy forwarded for information \& necessary action:-
- DOP\&T(Shri Mahender Kumar, Deputy Secretary)CS-II Division, Lok Nayak Bhawan, New Delhi.
- Prime Minister’s Office (Smt. V.Vidyavathi, Director).
- Cabinet Secretariat (Smt. Nivedita Shukla Verma, Director)
- PS to MOS (PP)/Sr.PPS to Secretary (P)
- PS to EO/Dir.(MM)/RO(CM)/Guard File.
- Director, NIC for placing on the Department website.