New Delhi: The central government’s recent move to amend Fundamental Rules (FR) to facilitate extended tenure and in-service benefits to the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seem to have opened up a Pandora’s Box.
According to the new rules, the central government can give extension “in the public interest” to the Defence Secretary, Home Secretary, Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and directors of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a case-to-case basis, subject to the condition that the total term of such secretaries or directors, “does not exceed two years or the period provided in the respective Act or rules made thereunder”, according to a Personnel Ministry’s notification.
This move has jolted the entire bureaucracy as the chain of succession will be affected in most of these institutions due to this order.
Many serving officers NDTV spoke to were very unhappy. “There is serious heartburn among many seniors as now, because of this order, at least three to four batches will be eliminated each time,” explains a serving senior bureaucrat.
According to him, the morale of officers will take a hit in these organisations. “For decades, they work in hope to reach the top but now different types of skills would be needed to make it to there,” he adds.
