Officer on Special Duty (India)

An OSD (Officer on Special Duty) is an officer in the Indian bureacracy considered of the status between a Secretary and an Under Secretary. He / she is usually an IAS oficer on central deputation to a particular ministry.[1]

The practice dates back to the British colonial rule in India, and was explained to the Central Legislative Assembly by a government spokesman in 1931 as follows:[2]

There are two principal critieria in appointing an OSD in the civil services -

  1. When an officer by his appoinment brign far greater economic benefit to the government than that spent in his appoinment
  2. When there is an obligation on the government to take a certain action for the benefit of the larger good.[3]

It is also sometimes used as a training post for a future higher level posting. For example when S.Ranganathan was appointed the Comptoller and Auditor General, he was first appointed as an OSD to understudy the outgoing CAG A.K.Roy and subsequently given charge.

Numerous IAS officers have been subsequently appointed as OSDs, usually at the center, and the list includes Vitul Kumar (1996 batch IPS).[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ G Files : Inside the government. India's first magazine on India Bureaucracy and Governance. (Vol 5, Issue 10 ed.). January 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Legislative Assembly Debates". Parliament of British India II (2): 1132. 23 February 1931.
  3. ↑ S.R., Maheshwari (2003). Indian Administation (6th ed.). New Delhi: Orient Longman Private Limited. ISBN 812501988X.
  4. ↑ G Files : Inside the government. India's first magazine on India Bureaucracy and Governance. (Vol 5, Issue 10 ed.). January 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2015.