RTI reveals officers retained as personal staff of ministers even after 10 years
4 Aug, 2013
An application was filed with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get information about the officers who have been serving as personal staff of ministers for more than ten years.
The reply from the DoPT shows that many requests were received from various ministers to allow some officials to continue as personal staff after DoPT imposed a ceiling of ten years for any official to be appointed as personal staff of ministers in 2010. The reply shows that 87 officials continued to serve as personal staff of various ministers even after completion of their prescribed tenure after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) cleared their continuation requests sent by the ministries.
Out of these 87 officials, six are officers on special duty, three are private secretaries, 29 are additional private secretaries and 24 are assistant private secretaries. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also decided to retain officials over and above their prescribed tenure till the next general elections are conducted.