1.4 Although cadre management and cadre reviewing are primarily the concern of individual cadre controlling authorities, the responsibility for laying down standards in the matter and for coordination rests with the Department of Personnel & Training in accordance with its role as the nodal agency for formulation and evaluation of personnel policies in Government of India. The standard setting task was attempted by the Policy Planning Wing of the Department in a methodical and systematic manner. In the first stage, with a view to gaining an idea of the prevailing management practices followed by various departments of Government of India, the then Department of Personnel & A.R. sought information on the methods employed by them to ensure scientific management of the various Services/Cadres under their control. A fair amount of information was received in 1971 in response to this request. On the basis of the information thus received, the Policy Planning Wing formulated certain broad guidelines for objective management of individual cadres (Appendix-I). The guidelines aimed at remedying the deficiencies pointed out by the Administrative Reforms Commission and its Study Team and ensuring balanced and scientific management of cadres on uniform lines. While forwarding the guidelines to all the departments of Government of India in May,1972, the latter were requested to constitute Cadre Management Committee for the purpose of reviewing the cadre under their control as envisaged in the Government decision on the relevant ARC recommendation (mentioned earlier). Subsequently, in May,1973, by way of elaborating and supplementing the earlier guidelines, an `Approach Note' on cadre management was prepared and circulated to cadre controlling authorities detailing the various aspects involved in cadre management such as structural aspects, personnel aspects and procedural aspects (Appendix-II).

1.5 Following the `guidelines' and `Approach Note' a few reviews of cadre structures of some important services like Foreign Service, Railways, Income-Tax and Water Engineering were taken up. Although the reviews carried out between 1973-1977 were few in number, the experience gained in the course of those reviews was good enough to reveal the defects in cadre management practices of concerned cadre authorities and the weaknesses in the procedures followed for the purpose. A number of statistical and information gaps were also identified. The progress made towards introducing scientific cadre management of organised Central Group `A'Services, had also been inadequate. Thus, while a few cadre authorities had convened the meetings of Cadre Review Committees for the purpose of reviewing the cadres under their control even the proposals placed before the Committees suffered from a number of deficiencies and information gaps. It soon become evident that there was a general lack of understanding of the principles and the methodology of cadre review on the part of cadre authorities.

1.6 There is another aspect of cadre review. An enlightened cadre management policy should provide for reasonable promotional avenues to cadre officers. The ARC as also its Study Team on Personnel Administration also underscored the importance of a sound promotion policy so as to maintain and improve the morale of services. The Third Pay Commission also paid particular attention to this aspect while considering the question of cadre management of Central Group `A'Services and recommended that cadre management of Central Group `A' Services should receive urgent attention of the Government (3), Indeed, the question of ensuring reasonable promotion prospects has remained one of the main concerns of Government's personnel management policy. While announcing Government decisions on the recommendations of the Pay Commission in respect of Group `A' Officers, the Union Finance Minister, stated inter alia in the Lok Sabha on 29th March,1974.

" The Cadre Review Committee will be requested to review on priority basis the Cadre strength of the Central Services in order to improve, where necessary, the promotional prospects in various Services."

1.7 Keeping in view (a) the unsatisfactory progress made in the matter of scientific cadre management, (b) the recommendations of the Third Central Pay Commission, and (c) the assurance given by the Finance Minister on the floor of the Lok Sabha, it also became apparent that the Department of Personnel & A.R. (now Department of Personnel & Training) in its capacity as the nodal point for the generality of personnel management policies should itself take greater initiative and play a more active role than before on the question of scientific managment of Central Services with particular reference to cadre reviewing with is, otherwise, the main responsibility (and still remains so) of the concerned cadre controlling authorities. It was thus that the Policy and Planning Wing (now Cadre Review Division) of the Department became increasingly involved in the whole process of cadre reviewing so far as Central Services are concerned. The experience gained in the course of the few cadre reviewing exercises carried out untill 1977 also highlighted the need for having a fresh set of guidelines which would be more comprehensive, detailed and easily understood besides being operationally more feasible than the earlier guidelines. Such guidelines would be of real help to cadre authorities in drawing up proposals for reviewing their cadres at regular intervals. A need was also felt for maintaining a data bank which would store statistical and other information on various aspects of different Central Services/ cadres so as to help in examining various issues and references connected with these services/cadres.