2-year ban for post-retirement jobs may be back

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government is examining a proposal to restore the two-year restraint on retiring bureaucrats from taking up commercial employment. The UPA government had last amended the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules in 2006 to reduce the period of obtaining a "no objection" certificate for post-retirement commercial employment to one year of superannuation from two years.
TOI has learnt that the personnel ministry is in the midst of deliberations on restoring the two-year lock-in period for bureaucrats to take up post-retirement commercial employment. A senior government functionary said that the top leadership is of the view that the one-year restraint is too little to rule out any conflict of interest in the work handled by a bureaucrat just prior to retirement and the activities undertaken by the organisation he proposes to join after superannuation.
"A bureaucrat should ideally be made to wait for at least two years before joining a corporate as there is a good chance of his favouring a potential commercial employer towards the end of his service in the hope of landing a plum job assignment. Alternatively, if an officer lands up a job a year after superannuation, there is still a risk of his taking advantage of the sensitive or strategic information he was privy to while in government, that is directly related to areas of interest or work of the organisation he proposes to join," a government functionary told TOI.
If the proposal to double the mandatory period for a bureaucrat to seek permission from the government before taking up post-retirement commercial employment does go through, it will allow the government to rein in top bureaucrats angling for plum corporate jobs and, in the process, favouring their prospective employers. However, this may not go down well with the bureaucracy that is already complaining about being constantly put under the lens by the Modi dispensation that has acquired the reputation of being a "tough taskmaster".
As per Rule 10 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, retired babus proposing to take up commercial employment within a year of retirement must seek permission from the government. According to the clauses (b) to (f) of sub-rule 3 of Rule 10 of CCS (Pension) Rules, an officer should not be privy to sensitive or strategic information in last three years of service, directly related to areas of interest relating to the proposed commercial employment. Another clause rules out conflict of interest between policies of the government office held in the last three years of service and work/interests represented by the prospective employer.
The government may also reject permission for post-retirement jobs where the prospective employer is in conflict with India's foreign relations, national security and domestic harmony. Similarly, the service record of the retired officer should be clear with respect to dealings with NGOs. Besides, the proposed emoluments should not be far in excess of the prevailing levels.