In a major policy decision, UPA is aiming to curb the government staff's obsession fror getting into the personal staff of ministers to peddle influence. The government has slapped a ceiling of 10 years beyond which nobody will be permitted to be appointed with a union minister at any level.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister has further tightened a lower ceiling of maximum five years for appointment as PS (personal secretary) or OSD (officer on special duty) with any minister. It has ruled that "no relaxation will be granted" in these ceilings.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after deliberations with  his Cabinet Committee on Appointments has formulated this and directed the cabinet secretary to implement it. Strangely, for a policy change that seems to have been pushed by the Prime Minister's Office, the new rules do not apply to the PMO!

The ACC ruling has come as a rude shock to almost 80 percent of the OSDs and personal secretaries of union ministers. Most of the ministers continuing in power since the UPA government took the reins in 2004 are having same old OSDs and personal secretaries. They were notified last week to relieve such officers immediately.

Some of the ministers approached Manmohan Singh to explain that their functioning will be affected if their trusted personal staff is taken away under the new rules. Those approaching him included Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

PMO sources said Manmohan Singh, however, turned down their request, stressing that the decision had to be taken since it is not in the interest of any organisation to let its officers be out of their cadres for prolonged time.

There are a score of officers and lower staff who have managed to get into the personal staff of one or the other minister irrespective of whichever party or parties form the government, citing their experience of efficiently serving various ministers.

An office memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel at the instance of ACC has, however, exempted the personal staff appointed in the PMO from these ceilings.

It says the cadre authorities must check that the total tenure of an officer as the personal staff of a minister is restricted to not more than 10 years in his entire career. "Further, his tenure as private secretary and OSD to the minister should be limited to five years within this overall limit, on the personal staff of the minister," says the memorandum.

These ceilings of five and ten years includes any tenure of the officer in the past at under secretary or lower levels in the personal staff of any minister, the memorandum added.