No.3 1/65/2009-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 Government for quite some time. The various Departments/Serices 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 Appointrnents 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 PSIOSD with the ceiling of ten years, in the personal staff would be adhered too 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