Reforming Public Services

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India should draw lessons from the experience of other countries and move towards creation of performance based organizations for public service delivery. This will make the machinery of government efficient, economical, sensitive to citizen’s needs and transform it into professional and performance oriented management.

Narender Modi

The second Administrative reforms commission noted that the existing system of performance appraisal is unsatisfactory and has suggested that it should be transparent with 369 degree feedback, there should be numerical rating on the pattern of Armed Forces and an independent third party be associated with the assessment.

 

It is imperative that the running of government be professionalized and not only Joint Secretary and higher posts i Central Secretariat, but all SAG/HAG posts in the field such as commissioner, income Tax, Collector, Central Excise, Accountant General, Chief Engineer, CPWD, Director, Health Services should be thrown open for competition, to not only candidates within the civil services, but also to competent professionals such as tax lawyers, chartered accountants, corporate executives, academics, engineers and doctors, if we wish to bring real efficiency in the public services.

HUM TUM

 

The Commission to Review the working of the constitution (2002) headed by Justice Venkatachaliah has noted that, “the constitutional safeguards have in practice acted to shield the guilty against swift and certain punishment for abuse of public office for private gain’, and suggested re-visiting the issue of constitutional safeguards under Article 311, to ensure that while the honest and efficient officials are given the requisite protection but the dishonest are not allowed to prosper in office.

 

Today the working of the Government is highly centralized with all powers concentrated in Ministries and Departmental heads. There is a need for paradigm shift in this approach and operational freedom be given to persons in the fields who implement programs and schemes by placing trust and confidence in their ability to deliver results.

 

 

 

 

 

This Summer Rs. 1.5 lakh Linux course to be available for free online

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The Linux Foundation has announced that it will be providing access to an “Introduction to Linux” course for free through edX, an e-learning website backed by Harvard and MIT. The course which will go live this summer, usually costs $2,400 (Rs. 1.46 lakhs) but will be made accessible for free to anyone with an Internet connection. The primary objective behind this decision, according to the Executive Director of the Linux Foundation, Jim Zemlin, is to “advance Linux and that includes ensuring we have a talent pool of Linux professionals.”

The course is expected to take about 40 to 60 hours to complete and people who sign up will have complete freedom over how they want to study. You can choose to ‘audit’ the course, which will give you access to all the course materials without any need to give tests or assignments. You can opt to give tests and assignments in order to be awarded a certificate of completion.
The Linux Foundation has revealed that more than 2,500 people signed up for the course within the first 24 hours. There is no limit to the number of people who can sign up for the course and if the course manages to attract a significant number of students, then the Foundation will make more courses on Linux available for free through edX.
According to the Linux Jobs Report 2014 published by the Linux Foundation, the demand for Linux professionals is great and the salaries being paid out are also growing. If you’re interested in signing up for the course, do check out the edX page.