IST
Role of IES Officers
  • Role of the service can be broadly categorized in terms of economic advice, economic administration, implementation of development policy and programmes, besides dealing with other areas such as economic reforms, regulation, price fixation, and monitoring and evaluation. In the rapidly globalizing environment, decision-making is increasingly guided by economic rationality. In view of the on-going reforms pursued by the Government, the role of IES officers has assumed much significance. Apart from the purely economic sectors, IES officers are making crucial contribution towards policy making in social sectors.
  • IES officers are exposed to almost all the sectors of government functioning. These officers also provide link and continuity in policy-making, which is essential even for policy change. It is because of these factors that IES officers have been increasingly playing a versatile role, of an in-house economist with domain knowledge and experience.
  • While the role of IES officers described above is broad in nature, the role and responsibilities of the officers, particularly Economic Advisers, was sought to be clearly enunciated by the Cadre Controlling Authority through its communication dated 31.8.2005. As per its provisions, Economic Advisers are required to be closely associated with and involved in the economic reforms in the Ministry/ Department to which they are posted. They would advise the concerned Ministries/ Departments, on a continuous basis, on all policy matters having a bearing on internal and external economic management, and facilitate reforms in the fields/ sectors concerned.
  • The Economic Advisers would provide the Ministries/ Departments with inputs on all policy-related matters, and their economic implications. The officers could be required to monitor and evaluate the policy parameters from the economic angle laid down in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2003, and assist the Ministry of Finance in preparing annual or any other periodical statement required for complying with the provisions of the said Act. The Ministries/ Departments could also consult the concerned Economic Adviser before finalization of their Annual Plan Budgets.
  • To ensure that policy pursued by individual Ministries/ Departments is consistent with the overall direction of economic policy contained in the Union budget, Five-Year Plans, etc., the Economic Advisers posted to different Ministries/ Departments would interact with the Chief Economic Adviser in the Department of Economic Affairs, on a continuous basis, and ensure that economic implications of policy changes are comprehensively analyzed, and facilitate individual Ministries/ Departments to spearhead reforms in the direction envisaged by the Government.

Disclaimer
The views expressed here by the government economists are personal and do not reflect the views of the government. Public responses are treated as
citizen's expectations from the Government and are meant to enrich and enhance the citizen friendly policy formulation as well as to support the
professional development of public policy economists.