Hota Committee (2004)
Topic: Civil Services: Role, Accountability and Reforms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Hota Committee (2004) was a committee on civil service reforms, chaired by P.C. Hota. It looked at how to make the civil services more skilled, more accountable and more honest. It matters because many of its ideas were picked up later by the 2nd ARC and in government policy.
Example
The Hota Committee recommended:
- domain assignment, meaning officers would specialise in particular fields;
- lateral entry of outside experts;
- objective performance appraisal;
- a code of ethics for civil servants;
- quick removal of officers found taking bribes.
Lateral entry later took shape as a structured scheme in 2018.
Don't confuse with
- Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005-09): the 2nd ARC was a much larger commission that gave 15 reports on all of governance. The Hota Committee dealt only with civil service reforms.