The new government map

The Union government today has more than 50 ministries and, as of 1 March 2021, 40.35 lakh sanctioned civilian posts, of which 9.79 lakh were vacant and about 30.56 lakh filled. The new map has 15 ministries plus independent regulators. Every unit passes the Chapter 12 function test, and every mission head is a czar with the rank of a cabinet minister, on a renewable 1-year term.

The contract rule

• Who stays permanent. The armed forces, defence and the intelligence agencies keep permanent service. Judges, the CAG, Election Commissioners and UPSC members keep the fixed terms the Constitution already gives them, so their independence holds.
• Everyone else is on contract. Every other post, police included, is a 5-year renewable contract.
• Market pay. Contract pay is the private-sector market rate for the same skill, set every year by the Pay Benchmark Board (Chapter 12). Police, fire and disaster-response posts get a 15% risk premium. Every office is on fixed plus variable pay: a bonus of 20% to 40% of pay tied to its targets, citizens' ratings and its area's results (Chapter 12). Nobody's current pay is cut. Because pay matches the market, nobody needs a bribe, and a proven bribe means dismissal, forfeiture of 5 years' pay, a lifetime ban from every government post and prosecution.
• New hires. From day 1, every new hire outside defence and intelligence joins on a 5-year renewable contract at market pay, renewed only on scorecard results.
• Existing permanent staff. Within 1 year they are offered conversion to contract with a sign-on payment of 6 months' pay. Those who decline keep their Article 311 protection until the Chapter 28 amendment ends it for future service, and are judged on the same scorecards meanwhile.
• Pension. Every contract employee is on a defined-contribution account under the National Pension System (NPS).

Cost (estimate)

• Each department's wage bill is capped at today's level in real terms, so higher pay is paid for by fewer posts as units are divested. Post counts and the wage bill then fall every year: every task is automated first, contracted out second, and kept in-house only when neither works (suggested target: at least 10% fewer civil posts in year 1). A post vacant for 12 months is abolished (Chapter 12).

Ministries kept (15)

1. Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Secretariat: runs the czar missions and the merit system (absorbing the Department of Personnel and Training) and handles Parliamentary Affairs.
2. Defence: the armed forces, DRDO and the defence startup mission (Chapter 17).
3. Home Affairs: national police standards, the internal intelligence agency, border management and disaster response (Chapter 26).
4. External Affairs and Trade: diplomacy, trade deals and rupee trade (absorbing the trade side of Commerce).
5. Finance: collects the bank transfer tax (BTT) and GST with its fixed levies and import duty, and sets the standard for the property tax that cities and districts collect (Chapter 1), all with faceless audits. It runs the budget, the sovereign funds and the fund of funds. DIPAM folds into Finance after the 1-year sale programme, and Finance runs the remaining sales on the same calendar (Chapter 12).
6. Law and Justice: court administration, AI case triage, legislative drafting and the annual repeal act (Chapters 6 and 8).
7. Digital Infrastructure and Communications: merges MeitY, Telecom, UIDAI, the KYC credential registry, the privacy ledger, the one Business ID and the company registry (Chapters 4 and 7).
8. Infrastructure: merges Road Transport, Railways, Shipping, Civil Aviation, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Jal Shakti. It sets specs and published prices; certified firms build and run (How the government buys).
9. Energy and Atomic: merges Power, New and Renewable Energy, Petroleum and Atomic Energy (Chapter 19).
10. Space: ISRO and the space city (Chapter 18).
11. Research: merges Science and Technology, Biotechnology, CSIR and Earth Sciences.
12. Education and Skills: merges Education, Skill Development, and Youth Affairs and Sports: national tests, the university registry and DBT skills training (Chapters 15 and 23).
13. Health and Food Safety: merges Health, AYUSH, the food-safety authority and the drug regulator (Chapter 24).
14. Social Protection and Work: one DBT and one Work Offer for every citizen. It merges Rural Development, Social Justice, Tribal Affairs, Minority Affairs, Women and Child Development, Labour, and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Chapter 23).
15. Environment, Agriculture and Culture: pollution sensors and fines, forests, the grain buffer, e-NAM, the banned-chemicals list, and culture and tourism (Chapters 21, 11 and 24). Culture stays as a public function even though it has no clear financial return.

Independent bodies kept

RBI, SEBI, one insurance and pension regulator (IRDAI and PFRDA merged), the Competition Commission (the main "observe and punish" arm), TRAI, the power regulator, the atomic regulator, the Election Commission, the CAG, UPSC (merit tests), the National Statistics Authority (Chapter 14), the Equal Opportunity Commission (Chapter 23), and the Lokpal with the Chief Integrity Officer (Chapter 13).

Everything else: divested within 1 year

Anything not listed above is divested: sold, handed to certified private operators, or closed. Examples:

• Coal, Steel, Mines (mineral auctions move to Energy and Atomic), Heavy Industries, Textiles, Food Processing, Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy.
• Cooperation, MSME and DPIIT (their work moves into the one Business ID), and Corporate Affairs (into Digital Infrastructure).
• Information and Broadcasting (Prasar Bharati is sold, and certification is kept to the minimum), Tourism (into Culture), Panchayati Raj (local services are contracted; local bodies stay elected), and DoNER.
• Every ministry's in-house company or board that fails the function test.
• India Post is corporatised and sold, with a universal-service covenant that keeps service in every pin code.

IAS, IPS and IFoS officers

• Existing officers are offered conversion to contract with 6 months' pay within 1 year. Once Bill A (Chapter 28) amends Articles 310 to 312, the All-India Services end and every remaining officer moves to a 5-year performance contract at their next joining anniversary. Until then they work in the 15 ministries, district CEO roles (Chapter 14) and missions, judged on public scorecards under the bottom-10% rule (Chapter 12).
• New recruitment. The IAS exam is replaced by an open National Executive Service merit test. Half of senior posts are filled by lateral entry on 5-year renewable contracts at private-sector pay. There are no quotas: one exam for every citizen.
• IPS. Leadership moves into the national police structure, through one open merit exam that includes ex-servicemen (Chapter 26).
• IFoS. Merged into the Environment, Agriculture and Culture ministry's professional cadre.
• Legal route. Recruitment rules under the All India Services Act, 1951 can be changed by ordinary law and rules. Creating a new all-India service needs a Rajya Sabha resolution under Article 312, and changing Article 312 itself is part of the Chapter 28 package.

States

Each state mirrors the same map, with about 15 departments run by the chief minister as CEO (Chapter 14). Police, land and local bodies follow the Chapter 28 route.

Guardrails

• Staff. The function-test scorecard for every unit is published within 30 days, with the number of staff in each unit to be divested. No staff are moved out of a unit until its replacement (a certified vendor or a merged ministry) is live.
• Size. Core headcount is published every quarter and falls every year. Any new post outside the 15 ministries and the listed regulators needs a vote of Parliament.
• Fair exits. Contract terms, pay bands and renewal scores are published for every post. Non-renewal needs written reasons, with an appeal decided within 30 days. Once a unit is sold, the new owner decides on merit which employees stay. Anyone not retained gets the one severance rule for every worker (Chapter 7) and access to the DBT skills track and the Work Offer (Chapter 23).

Where it already works

• Fewer licensing bodies, fast. Georgia cut the activities needing a licence or permit from 909 to 159 in its 2005 reform, showing that a state can shrink its permit machinery within a single term (World Bank, Doing Business case study).
• Contract-based outcome delivery, India. Aadhaar reached 119 crore people through registrars and certified agencies paid per result, with a small central authority setting the rules (How every rollout works: the Aadhaar playbook) (UIDAI).
• Outside experts on fixed terms, India. After a call for applications in June 2018, the government appointed nine private-sector specialists as joint secretaries in August 2019, on 3-year contracts (Business Standard/PTI).

Concerns, and how the map answers them

• Concern: Contract jobs make officials afraid to say no to politicians. Answer: non-renewal needs published written reasons and an appeal within 30 days, renewal depends only on the published scorecard, and the bodies that check the government keep their constitutional fixed terms.
• Concern: Higher pay will blow up the wage bill. Answer: each department's wage bill is capped at today's level in real terms, and the raise is paid for by fewer posts as units are divested (Chapter 12).
• Concern: Existing officers' rights cannot be taken away by a policy change. Answer: they keep Article 311 and 312 protection, conversion to contract is voluntary with 6 months' pay, and compulsory retirement uses only the existing FR 56(j) power for those eligible.
• Concern: Services collapse when a ministry closes. Answer: no staff leave a unit until its replacement is live, and each closure follows a published scorecard.

Limits to know

Article 311 protects existing permanent civil servants from dismissal without an inquiry, and a change to it applies to future service only. That is why conversion to contract is voluntary and backed by a sign-on payment, and why the full contract rule reaches every post through new hiring and the Chapter 28 amendment.

Sources: ThePrint: 9.79 lakh vacant posts in central government departments, 1 March 2021 · Cabinet Secretariat: Allocation of Business Rules · Business Standard: nine lateral-entry joint secretaries appointed, 2019 · World Bank: Licensing activities in Georgia · UIDAI: Lok Sabha reply on Aadhaar coverage