by all ministries/departments, in the recruitment, regulation of service conditions,
posting/transfers, deputation of personnel as well as other related issues. It also advises all
organizations of the central government on issues of personnel management. At a more
immediate level, the DoPT has the direct responsibility of being the cadre controlling authority
for the IAS and the three secretariat services in the Central Secretariat. The Department also
operates the Central Staffing Scheme under which suitable officers from All India Services and
Group ‘A’ Central Services are selected and then placed in posts at the level of Deputy
Secretary/Director and Joint Secretary, on the basis of tenure deputation. The Department also
deals with cases of appointment to posts of Chairman, Managing Director, and full-time
functional Director/member of the board of management of various public sector
undertakings/enterprises, corporations, banks and financial institutions. It also deals with the
assignment of Indian experts to various developing countries. It is also responsible for
formulation and coordination of training policies for the All India and Central Services and
providing support for the capacity building of state government officials
Relevant Website: www.dopt.gov.in
Recruitment Agencies
The two organizations through which the Department ensures recruitment of personnel for
the government are the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Staff Selection
Commission (SSC). The former is responsible for conducting examinations for appointment to
the higher civil services and civil posts; including recruitment to the All India Services. There is
a mandatory provision for consulting the Commission on all matters relating to methods of
recruitment, principles to be followed in making promotions and transfers from one service to
another and on all disciplinary matters. The SSC is responsible for making recruitment to
subordinate staff such as Assistants, Stenographers etc.
Some of the initiatives taken by the DoPT include:
(a) Discontinuation of interview for Gr. B and C posts
Interview has been dispensed with for recruitment by SSC to all Group ‘C’ and Group ‘B’
(non-gazetted) from January 2016. This is applicable for recruitment on GoI
min./attached/subordinate offices/autonomous bodies/PSUs. 18 states and all the union
territories, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh,
Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry have adopted the
policy of discontinuation of interview in recruitments to lower level posts
(b) Switching from OMR based exam to Computer
To improve transparency and reduce time taken to complete recruitment process, the
government has switched over from the traditional OMR (Optical Mark Reader) mode to
Computer Based Mode in respect of the various recruitment exams (viz., CGLE, CHSLE, MTS
level, etc.) conducted by SSC.
(c) Single Registration and Two Tier System of Examination
At present, candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for different examinations
where similar eligibility conditions have been prescribed. Multiple recruitment examinations not
only burden the candidates but also results in avoidable expenditure in the conduct of these