ADMINISTRATION
The NOS is an autonomous organisation set up by the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Educa- tion) under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. It is partly funded by Government of India.
The Chairman is the Chief Executive of the NOS and is appointed by the Government of India.
The Chairman is assisted by three Heads of Departments, namely, Director (Academic), Secretary and Controller of Examinations, who look after Academic, Administration and Examination Departments respectively.
In addition, there are Library, Vocational, Media and Graphics Units and a Computer Centre. The Library, Vocational, Media and Graphics Units are under the charge of Director (Academic). The work of the Computer Centre is directly supervised by Chairman. Publication, Warehousing and Material Distribution Units are part of Administration.
Organogram of NOS is presented in Figure 9.1
Management
General Body The General Body is the apex body of the NOS. It is vested with the responsibility to assist the Society by providing sound and professional advice counsel; it generates a vision and gives broad policy directions to the Society. The General Body helps to ensure that the Society remains publicly accountable and that it exercises its powers and functions in consonance with the mission and objectives of the Society.
It is headed by the Chairman, NOS. The Body is composed of Heads of Departments of NOS; nominees of the Department of Education and its Integrated Finance Division; one representative each of NCERT, NIEPA and CBSE; three nominees, one each from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Doordarshan and All India Radio; nominee of the Department of Women and Child Development; nominee of the Ministry of Welfare; a representative of the Indira Gandhi National Open University; Director General or nominee of the National Literacy Mission Authority; nominee of the Vice Chancellor, Delhi University; nominee of Secretary (Education), National Capital Territory, Delhi; Director or representative of the Open Schools/Correspondence Schools in the states; Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan or nominee; Director, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti or nominee; nominee of the Vice Chancellor of SNDT, Bombay; two representatives from four industries which are linked with the vocational courses provided by the National Open School; all members of the Executive Board; and two special- ists/eminent educationists, to be nominated by the Government of India. Secretary, NOS acts as Member-Secretary of the General Body.
A list of members of the General Body as on 31st March, 1994 appears at Appendix IV
Executive Board In general, the Executive Board has been vested with all the powers of the
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Society, to manage its affairs and to enable it to function smoothly and effectively. Specifically, the Executive Board does forward planning of policies and programmes of actions, takes appropriate decisions, ensures effective implementation and exercises the review functions.
The Chairman of the NOS is the Chairman of the Executive Board. Other members include Heads of all the Departments of NOS, nominee of Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development; one specialist each from Distance Education, Development and Education of Women, Industry, Media, Technology and Vocational/Technical Education. Secretary NOS acts as Member-Secretary of the Executive Board.
A list of members of Executive Board as on 31st March, 1994 appears at Appendix V.
Finance Committee The Finance Committee scrutinises the accounts and budget estimates and makes recommendations on proposals for new expenditure and other financial matters.
The Chairman of the NOS is the Chairman of the Finance Committee. Other members include Heads of all the Department of NOS, nominees of the Department of Education and its Integrated Finance Division and financial and management experts. Secretary NOS acts as Member- Secretary of the Finance Committee.
The Finance Committee was reconstituted during the year. The meeting of the reconstituted Finance Committee.was held on 11th January,1994.
A list of members of the Finance Committee as on 31st March, 1994 appears at Appendix VI.
Administrative Advisory Committee An Administrative Advisory Committee of the experts in management the Department of Education, IGNOU, KVS, NIEPA and senior retired professionals was constituted by the Chairman to provide advice on various administrative matters from time to time.
The first meeting of the Administrative Advisory Committee was held on 16th June,1993.
Administrative Set-up The Department is headed by Secretary, who is assisted by one Deputy Director and Assistant Director each administration; and Accounts Officer in accounts and auditing.
The Administration is organised in following three Sections and one Cell, namely, Personnel, Purchase and Stores and Maintenance Sections, and R and I Cell:-
Personnel Section deals with all personnel matters including recruit- ment and placement of staff at all levels; legal cases; work relating to General Body, Executive Board, Finance Committee, Administrative Advisory Committee and rules and regulations.
Purchase & Stores Section is responsible for all purchases, supplies and services. It is also responsible for the management of all stores of NOS excepting paper storage and material warehousing.
Maintenance Section looks after maintenance of all fittings, fixtures and equipments, staff car, telephones, security, electricity and water supply.
R & I Cell receives all correspondence by hand and by mail, distributes the same to the concerned sections and officers and issues dak to outside agencies.
Accounts Section is responsible for preparation of budget, budgetary control accounting of revenues, maintenance of annual accounts, disbursement of salaries, financial transactions and audit.
Audit: Internal audit is done by an Internal Auditor who reports to Accounts officer.
All the sections in Administration were supervised by a Section Officer excepting R & I Cell which was under the charge of a Desk Officer. Accounts Section was supervised by an Accountant under the overall charge of the Accounts Officer.
Cadre Planning The category-wise strength of the NOS as on 31.3.94 was 159 as detailed in Table 9.1 appearing on page 46.
The staff in position as on 31.3.94 was 118 against 108 as on 31.3.93.
In addition, around 61 daily wage/ contract staff and 9 project staff of various categories including professional, technical, administrative and class IV were employed as on 31.3.94
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Table 9.1 : Category-wise strength as on 31.3.94
Cadre Posts Number
Chairman 1 (0.6%)
Academic 25 (15.7%)
Dir(A) (1), J.D.(Voc.)(1),J.D.(Media) (1)
D.E.O.(2), Tutor (19), R&EO (1)
Academic Support 6 (3.8%)
Librarian (1), AD(1), S.O.(5), DO(2),
Artist (2), Asst.Lib. (1), Lib. Asstt.(1)
Administrative (54%)
(a) Examination Department
C.E.(1), DD(1), AD(1),S.O.(5),DO(2)
Asstt.(7), Jr. Asstt.(15) 32 (20.0%)
(b) Administrative Department
Secy(1),DD(1), AD(1), A.O.(1),
S.O.(3),Acctt.(1), D.O.(3),I.A.(1)
Asst.(8), Jr. Asstt.(16) 36 (23%)
(c) Academic Department
AD(1) S.O.(3),D.O.(1),
Asstt.(2),Jr.Asstt(6) 13 (8%)
(d) Computer Centre
Jr. Asstt.(5) 5 (3%)
Technical
SAP(1), P.O.(1),EDP Supv.(1) 22 (13.8%)
Tech. Asst.(2), PS to CM(1), P.A.(3)
Steno (6), DPO (2), Elec. (1)
Staff Car Driver (3)
Gestetner Operator (1)
Class-IV (Non- Technical)
Peon (13), Sweeper (1), Chowkidar (5) 19 (12%)
Total 159 100%
to accomplish the essential tasks and activities.
Staff Changes Joined Dr. R.L. Phutela, Director (Acad.) joined on 13.4.93 on deputation from N.C.E.R.T.
Smt. Jacinta Ekka, Smt. Sunita Meena, Sarva Sh. Vijay Pal, Prem Nath and Ramesh Kumar joined as junior Assistant on 26.5.93, 14.6.93, 22.10.93, 22.10.93 and 25.10.93 respectively.
Sh. Om Prakash and Smt. Bhupender Kaur, joined as Stenographer on 7.6.93 and 12.10.93 respectively.
Sarva Sh. Dharmu Nagar, R. Ashoka, B.L. Bhatla, Nanak Chand, S.P. Selvan, K. Sivaraman and V.S. Ravindran joined as Section Officer on 30.7.93, 12.8.93, 17.8.93, 23.8.93, 14.9.93, 1.11.93 and 10.11.93 respectively.
Sh. K.K. Giri, Desk Officer joined on 1.10.931.
Sh. Subhram Chaudhry, Accounts Officer joined on 28.2.94
Sh. R.P. Singh, Tutor(Agri.) joined on 25.3.94
Left Sarva Sh. S.C. Anand, O.P. Arora, A.C. Luthra and R.Ashoka, Section Officers reverted to their parent offices on completion of deputation period on 15A.93, 30.7.93, 31.8.93 and 15.2.94 respectively.
Sarva Sh. A.K. Sharma and V.K. Babbar, Desk Officers reverted to parent office on completion of their term on 30.4.93 and 30.7.93 respectively.
Sh. H.K. Chopra, Junior Assistant left on 11.1.94.
Sh. V.S. Sharma, Accounts Officer superannuated on 31.1.94.
Inducting Professionals in the Arm of Felt-Needs To fill in the gaps of expertise, services of Advisors/Consultants with academic eminence and rich .PA administrative experience were availed. These included Prof. P.V. Indiresan (Former Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras), Shri S.C. Mittal (Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission), Prof. Utpal Banerjee (Former Director General, All India Management Association) and Shri R.P.
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Saxena (Former Registrar, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration).
Work Study During the year, the Work Study Team from the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development conducted a study of the staff requirements of NOS and on the basis of its assessment, recommended 41 additional posts in different categories of staff.
Rationalisation of Grades Anomalies in the scales of pay for the posts of Accounts Officer and Accountant were removed. Also, a uniform scale of pay was introduced for the posts of Tutors, Research and Evaluation Officer, Sr. Graphic Artist and PS to CM.
Service Rules National Open School has adopted Service Rules as applicable to the employees of the Central Board of Secondary Education for the interim period pending framing of its own Service Rules. NOS Service Rules were drafted and reviewed by the Expert Committees and thereafter circulated among the staff members. The suggestions received were examined and a final view of the draft Service Rules was taken by another Expert Committee which submitted its report in March, 1993. The finalised draft Service Rules were placed in the meeting of the Finance Committee held in January, 1994 and will be placed in the next meeting of the Executive Board for approval.
Rules for Project Posts The NOS started a number of projects during the year in priority areas for accelerating the pace and process of its activities. For operationalising these projects, a number of project posts were created for fixed periods for the duration of the projects. With a view to regulate appointments to the project posts, rules and procedures were formulated inter-alia prescribing standard designations, consolidated salaries, terms and conditions of appointment and the procedure of their selection. These rules were considered by the Finance Committee in its meeting held in January,1994 and recommended for approval to the Executive Board.
Group Savings Linked Insurance Scheme Employees of NOS are covered under Group Savings Linked Insurance Scheme of L.I.C. The insurance cover under the scheme is Rs.1,20,000, Rs.80,000, Rs.30,000 and Rs.15,000 for Group A,B,C and D Categories respectively.
Mini Tour NOS organised one mini tour from 21st August, 1993 to 23rd August, 1993 to Nainital. 70 members including the dependants of the employees joined the tour.
Excursion Educational Trip in lieu of LTC NOS employees, other than those availing LTC, who have completed one year of continuous service are eligible to avail this facility. One such excursion trip was organised from 21st October, 1993 to 26th October, 1993 to Dalhousi. 16 members including the dependants of the employees joined the trip.
Scholarships Five scholarships ranging from Rs. 40/- per month to Rs. 60/- per month are earmarked for children of NOS employees from each class from VI to XII getting at least 60% aggregate marks in the final results. During the year 4 scholarships were awarded to the children of the NOS employees.
Land Two acres of land has been acquired by NOS in Noida. Although physical possession of the land was taken in February, 1993, construction work was not taken up as the land is far too inadequate even to meet its present requirements.
To enable NOS to effectively pursue its mission keeping in view its growing requirements and future vision, the matter was taken up with the Department of Education for providing at least 15 acres of land in Delhi or nearby surroundings for developing office accommodation, training facilities, studio, warehouse, hostel, guest house and a residential complex.
Upgradation of Physical Facilities NOS continued to function in rented buildings. It was earlier located in Wazirpur Industrial Area, a typical market place in the depth of industrial pollution, traffic noise, erratic power supply and no drinking water supply at all. Besides, there was great shortage of space - not an inch for expansion. During the year, special efforts were made to find more
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hospitable location. In December, 1993, NOS was shifted to Kailash Colony in three buildings - one for Administration and Examination, another exclusively for Academic Departments and third, a basement material wareshouding and distribution.
The total work space in two buildings housing Academic, Administration and Examination Departments now is 27,110 sq.ft. as compared to 19,725 sq.ft. in Wazirpur. The new accommodation also has some conference, meeting and group work facilities.
Farming Out Services The NOS has adopted the practice of farming out the work to outside agencies instead of engaging regular staff wherever possible with a view to increase operational efficiency and accountability. In this context, NOS has entrusted the security of the office on contract basis to a professional Organisation for providing round the clock security services. Also, the cleanliness of the building has been entrusted on contract basis. This system has proved to be useful and cost effective.
Similarly, annual maintenance contracts have been given for proper maintenance of all machines, including computers, photocopiers, air conditioners, water coolers, water filters, typewriters etc.
Computerisation of Administrative Services During the year, the Computer Centre provided necessary service facilitation to administration in day to day correspondence, preparation of bio-data statements for recruitment of staff, agenda papers and minutes of the meetings of various decision making bodies, preparation of reports including annual report and issue of pay-in- slips etc. Programme is afoot to computerise accounting, personnel, stores and material distribution management.
Financial Assistance During the year 1993-94, the NOS was allocated by the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, a total grant of Rs.324.00 lakhs of which Rs.290.00 lakhs was earmarked for plan and Rs.34.00 lakhs was earmarked for Non-plan. However, NOS did not draw its fall grant under plan head and surrendered funds earmarked for construction of the building. The net grant received under plan head, therefore, amounted to Rs.144.82 only. The net grant both under plan and non-plan heads actually received by NOS, aggregated to Rs.178.82 only. Against the above, total grant of Rs.177.86 lakhs was received during the year 1992-93 which included Rs.101.20 lakhs under plan and Rs.76.66 lakhs under Non-plan heads.
Income During the year, the total income fro fees was Rs. 494.48 lakhs against Rs.389.79 lakhs only during 1992-93 registering an increase of 26 per cent. NOS also received Rs.1.12 lakhs for Open Learning project from Commonwealth of Learning.
Receipts During the year 1993-94, the total receipts of the NOS amounted to Rs.674.42 lakhs, including grants (Rs.494.48 lakhs from income; Rs.178.82 lakhs, under grant and Rs.1.12 lakhs from international funding).