Appointment of Bipin Rawat and issue of seniority vs promotion

Recently government appointed Bipin Rawat new Chief of army staff by superseding two senior Lt. Generals on the basis of merit and operational qualifications. This move was widely criticized but it brought back the issue of promotion on the basis seniority vs promotion on the basis of merit.

Discussion

When in an ideal world where ‘all things being equal’ promotion on the basis of seniority will be the most efficient procedure. However, this is hardly the case in real life. Promoting on the basis of seniority is a lazy way of making an appointment. The problem here is not so much of seniority plus merit but it is of seniority without merit. For decades, government servants have been moving up the ladder the old fashion way on the basis of seniority. For promotion, they don’t have to be good in their work leave alone excellence. Lack of merit is not an issue and whoever challenges this convention of promotion lands up in court. This may also take an ugly political turn if the person superseded on the basis of merit belongs to a particular caste and religion.

The meritorious in a government department, aware of the rules of promotion based on seniority have little incentive to perform. They either join the rank of non-performer or quit the job and move to the private sector. In both, the cases nation is the loser. Realizing this trend government has started lateral commissioning of outsiders which is expected to dilute seniority hegemony and boost the trend of merit. Retired supreme court judge MarkandayKatju suggested dropping ‘senior most judge’ criterion in appointing the new chief justice of India. There is no dishonor here to the concept of seniority but in this fast changing world we need new merit to tackle new problems.