LG gives nod to restructure Delhi services cadre

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Friday approved with immediate effect the first cadre restructuring of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Subordinate Services (GNCTDSS), which will pave the way for the promotion of about 13,000 Group C and Group B employees of the Delhi government as Group A officials, according to an official order.

Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services (DASS), as GNCTDSS was previously known, was constituted in 1967, and was not restructured in the last 56 years, despite the mandate to reconstitute it every five years, an official in the LG office said.

Under DASS, officials were directly recruited as Grade-II or assistant section officers. They could get promoted only once in their entire career up to Grade-I(DASS) or section officer (Group B-gazetted), the official said.

“At the far end of their service, only a minuscule number of DASS officials could get promotion to the post of entry grade of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Island Civil Services (DANICS) officers,” the official said.

Considering the long-time demand of DASS officials, the matter of restructuring of the cadre was deliberated upon with ministry of home affairs and with the concurrence of MHA, finance and law departments of Delhi government, the LG approved 217 specific posts to be abolished and created at Pay Level-11 (Group-A posts) within DASS, the official said.

“These newly created posts shall remain manned by the existing officers till the eligible Grade-I officers of DASS are promoted and posted,” the official in the LG secretariat added.

Earlier, a committee headed by retired IAS officer SN Sahai in April 2018 recommended the restructuring of DASS cadre.

Citing the reasons for the prolonged hold up in restructuring the cadre, a second LG secretariat official said that since most of the posts — which will now be filled up DASS officers — were filled by DANICS officers, they used to create hurdles. “

Since the restructuring indirectly impacted IAS lobby with more DANICS officers becoming IAS officers, the proposal could never be approved on the ground of technical lacunas cited by different departments of the Delhi government, the second official said.

DASS is the feeder cadre for DANICS, which, in turn, feeds to the IAS cadre, the official added.

Welcoming the LG’s approval to cadre restructuring, AN Gaur, president, Federation of Officers and Employees of DASS cadre, said, “The decision to restructure the services will motivate the officials to perform their duties with renewed zeal,” he said.