The report says:

• Today, civil servants need to be focused on outcomes, not processes and have to be more accountable for delivery.
• They have to be agents of change and, to this end, need to be more agile, more technically savvy, and to be able to ensure the financial and public service reforms that are essential.
• The Commission suggested that in the present scenario, it is keenly felt that there needs to be a paradigm shift, and the methodology that has been adopted in the past, namely a seniority-driven approach within the various services, has to be revisited.
• With the role of government in the development and in making the country a market-driven, investor-friendly economy, key functionaries who should be evolving policy and driving the development process should be the ones who have the requisite domain knowledge and sufficient experience in departments and areas that they are required to head.
• In this context, the service-related claims for any top position are not relevant anymore, and what is essential is that the right person is selected for every job.
• The approach suggested by this Committee was that the skills and background of officers be carefully matched to the requirements of particular positions, while not confining individual officers to narrowly defined tasks or sectors.
• It was recommended that eleven domains (other than IAS) be identified, and as part of the empanelment process at joint secretary and additional secretary levels, each officer’s domain expertise be specifically recognized.
• Given the complexities of modern-day governance, the existing system of generalists staffing senior policy-making positions and shifting from one field to another in short periods is considered not just outmoded but inimical to effective policymaking.
• The leading cause for resentment among services is that over some time, IAS has arrogated to itself all power of governance and relegated all other services to secondary positions.
• All posts covering the majority of domains are today handled by IAS, be it technical or administrative, which is the leading cause of grievance.
• It is time that the government takes a call that the subject domain should be the criteria to man the posts and not a generalist.
• If fair and equitable treatment is not given to all services, then the gap between the IAS and other services will widen, and it may lead to a chaotic situation, and it will not be suitable for the governance and country.