The 1992 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, Sanjeev Kaushik, who was appointed a whole-time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has declined to resign from the IAS.
Currently, Kaushik is on Central deputation with the Finance Ministry. He has 12 years of service left and would prefer to go back to his home cadre to take up the post of Principal Secretary.
Indeed, no IAS officer may take up a three-year job when he has more than 10 years or more of service left with the government.
The government has made it mandatory for IAS officers to resign from service if they are picked up for the job of WTM with SEBI. A government representative from the Finance Ministry already sits on the SEBI board and the idea is to avoid having another IAS officer on the regulator's board to maintain is 'autonomy and independence.'
However, the irony is that it is the PMO that selects and appoints a SEBI chairman and even the post of executive director is open for filling by government officers on deputation if the government so desires.
So the mandatory stipulation of quitting IAS for officers desirous of joining the SEBI lacks logic, particularly if officers have longer tenure left in the IAS than one offered in the SEBI.
Kaushik had reportedly requested the government that he be allowed to go to the SEBI on deputation but that was rejected.
KM Abraham, another Kerala cadre IAS officer, was the last WTM who had come on government deputation to serve on the SEBI board till 2012. He is now the Cabinet Secretary to the Kerala government and Kaushik is likely to join under Abraham.
Earlier, SEBI mainly attracted retired officers to fill the post of WTM.
When Rajeev Agarwal, a 1983 batch officer, joined SEBI as WTM, he had to resign from government service even though he had seven years of service left before retirement. Then, Agarwal was appointed for five years.
Current SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi is a 1984 batch IAS officer from the Himachal cadre. He, too, had to resign from the IAS after the government notified his SEBI appointment last year. Initially, Tyagi was appointed for five years but another notice said the appointment had been cut short to three years. But Tyagi is 58 years old and had only two years of government service left.
The retirement age for SEBI board members is 65 years. In contrast, G Mahalingam, the newly-appointed WTM at SEBI, has been given a five-year term. He came to SEBI from the RBI where he was executive director and a regional director.
With Kaushik declining the job, SEBI now has to hunt for two WTMs as the regulator recently created one more post for a WTM. So new interviews have to be slotted and conducted.
Mid-career IAS officers unwilling to join SEBI?
By IndianMandarins - 2018-01-23 10:00:33
The 1992 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, Sanjeev Kaushik, who was appointed a whole-time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has declined to resign from the IAS.
Currently, Kaushik is on Central deputation with the Finance Ministry. He has 12 years of service left and would prefer to go back to his home cadre to take up the post of Principal Secretary.
Indeed, no IAS officer may take up a three-year job when he has more than 10 years or more of service left with the government.
The government has made it mandatory for IAS officers to resign from service if they are picked up for the job of WTM with SEBI. A government representative from the Finance Ministry already sits on the SEBI board and the idea is to avoid having another IAS officer on the regulator's board to maintain is 'autonomy and independence.'
However, the irony is that it is the PMO that selects and appoints a SEBI chairman and even the post of executive director is open for filling by government officers on deputation if the government so desires.
So the mandatory stipulation of quitting IAS for officers desirous of joining the SEBI lacks logic, particularly if officers have longer tenure left in the IAS than one offered in the SEBI.
Kaushik had reportedly requested the government that he be allowed to go to the SEBI on deputation but that was rejected.
KM Abraham, another Kerala cadre IAS officer, was the last WTM who had come on government deputation to serve on the SEBI board till 2012. He is now the Cabinet Secretary to the Kerala government and Kaushik is likely to join under Abraham.
Earlier, SEBI mainly attracted retired officers to fill the post of WTM.
When Rajeev Agarwal, a 1983 batch officer, joined SEBI as WTM, he had to resign from government service even though he had seven years of service left before retirement. Then, Agarwal was appointed for five years.
Current SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi is a 1984 batch IAS officer from the Himachal cadre. He, too, had to resign from the IAS after the government notified his SEBI appointment last year. Initially, Tyagi was appointed for five years but another notice said the appointment had been cut short to three years. But Tyagi is 58 years old and had only two years of government service left.
The retirement age for SEBI board members is 65 years. In contrast, G Mahalingam, the newly-appointed WTM at SEBI, has been given a five-year term. He came to SEBI from the RBI where he was executive director and a regional director.
With Kaushik declining the job, SEBI now has to hunt for two WTMs as the regulator recently created one more post for a WTM. So new interviews have to be slotted and conducted.
