Miffed at non-compliance of a directive from the department of personnel and training (DoPT), which asked ministries/departments to disclose their respective minister’s discretionary powers and frame guidelines to regulate them, the department's joint secretary has shot off a letter to secretaries of the defaulting ministries, urging them to look into the matter.

DoPT’s letter sent on Wednesday is fourth in series of reminders sent to ministries/departments after the first circular was sent on April 16 last year.

While the earlier circulars (issued on May 1 2012, and April 1st and July 11 this year) were sent by the deputy secretary of the DoPT  and addressed in general to the defaulting ministries, the present letter was shot off by the DoPT’s joint secretary Deepti Umashanker herself.

Addressed to the secretaries of the defaulting departments, the joint secretary has asked them to “personally look into the matter and expedite the requisite information.”

“All ministries/departments were requested to put in place regulatory parameters for exercise of discretionary powers of ministers and to put them in public domain so as to minimize arbitrariness in exercise of such powers and to send a copy of the guidelines, if already framed, within 15 days,” the letter from the joint secretary said.

She reminded them that despite earlier circulars “the requisite information in respect of your ministry/Department has not been received till date.” 

There has been a lot of hue and cry over the misuse of discretionary powers by ministers which include among others allotment of gas pumps, gas coupons, quota for admission of students from Bhutan and Nepal to medical college, appointment of non-functional directors of banks, chairman to PSUs, samitis, NGOs, cooperatives, boards, etc.     

Considered an important cause of corruption, there have been calls (from the civil society) for scraping these powers. 

The demand for abolition of the discretionary powers figured prominently in social activist Anna led agitation in early 2011. In the same year congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote to central ministers and state chief ministers asking them to give up the discretionary powers.

She said there was “ample evidence” that all discretionary powers, particularly in land allocation, breed corruption. “I would like all Congress chief ministers and ministers both at the Centre and the States to set an example by reviewing and relinquishing powers.”

Following Sonia’s letter, the government in April 2011 formed a GoM to deliberate on the arbitrary use of discretionary powers and come out with ways to tackle the misuse of these powers by ministers. One of the terms of reference (TOR) of the GoM was to consider and advise on "Relinquishing discretionary powers enjoyed by ministers at the centre”.

The GoM recommended that all ministries/departments put in place regulatory guidelines for exercise of discretionary powers and putting them in public domain so as to minimize arbitrariness in exercise of such powers.