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 appointed by the Government of India. He is the Chief Executive of the NOS and is the Chairman of the General Body, Executive Board and Finance and Establishment Committees.
The Secretary, National Open School is the member- Secretary of the General Body, Executive Board and Finance, Establishment and Administrative Advisory Committees.
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 pro- fessional advice and 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.
The General Body is composed of Heads of Departments of NOS; nominees of the Department of Education and its Integrated Finance Division; one representative each of National Council of Educational Research and Training, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and Central Board of Secondary Education; three nominees, one each from the Ministry of Information and Broad casting Doordarshan and AD India Radio, nominee of the Department of Women and Child Development; nominee of the Ministry of Welfare; a representa- tive 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 the Secretary (Education), National Capital Territory, Delhi, Director or representative of the Open Schools/Correspondence Schools in the states, Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan or nominee; Direc- tor, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti or nominee; nominee of the Vice Chan- cellor 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 specialists/ eminent educationists, to be nominated by the Government of India.
Two meetings of the General Body were held during the year on 2nd June, 1994 and 24th January, 1995.
A list of members of the General Body as on 31st March, 1995 appears at Appendix VII.
Executive Board In General, the Executive Board has been vested with all the powers of the 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,
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takes appropriate decisions, ensures effective implementation and exercises the review functions.
The Executive Board is composed of Heads of the Departments of NOS; nominees of Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and its Integrated Finance Division; one specialist each from Distance Education, Development and Education of Women, Industry, Media, Technology and Vocational/ Technical Education.
Three meetings of the Executive Board were held during the year on 27th April, 1994, 2nd June, 1994 and 24th January, 1995.
A list of members of Executive Board as on 31st March, 1995 appears at Appendix VIII.
Finance Committee The Finance Committee scrutinises the accounts and budget estimates and makes recommendations on proposals for new expenditure and other financial matters.
The Finance Committee is composed of Heads of the Departments of NOS; nominees of the Department of Education and its Integrated Finance Division; and financial and management experts.
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held on 9th January, 1995.
A list of members of the Finance Committee as on 31st March, 1995 appears at Appendix IX.
Establishment Committee The Establishment Committee considers establishment matters, service rule and recruitment rules etc. and make its recommendations to the Executive Board.
The Establishment Committee is composed of a representative from Department of Education; nominees of Administrative Advisory Committee; a state government representative; a representative of Department of Personnel; and two staff representatives from academic and non-academic staff.
A Meeting of the Establishment Committee was held on 12th May, 1994.
Administrative Advisory Committee The Administrative Advisory Committee provides advice on various administrative matters from time to time. It is composed of the experts in management from the Department of Education, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Kendriya Vidayalaya Sangathan, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and other senior professionals.
A meeting of the Administrative Advisory Committee was held on 22nd April, 1994.
Organisational Set-up The Chairman is assisted by three Heads of Departments, namely, Director (Academic), Secretary and Controller of Examinations, who 100 after Academic, Administration and Examination Departments respec- tively.
Admissions, accreditation and material distribution are three critical areas relating directly to students. Admissions had been managed in the past in different departments, namely, Departments of Examination, Academic and Administration from year to year. Accreditation and material distribution were handled by Academic and Administration Departments respectively. Integration of these activities under one umbrella was considered necessary for upgrading the organisational efficiency and providing student support services more effectively. A separate division was, therefore, created during the year by bringing these activities under the charge of Deputy Director (Administration) who reported directly to the Chairman.
In addition, there are Library, Vocational, Media and Graphic Unit and a Computer Centre. The Library, Vocational, Media and Graphic Unit are under the charge of Director (Academic). The work of the Computer Centre is directly supervised by the Chairman. Publication is part of Administration.
Organogram of NOS is presented in Figure 11.1.
Cadre Planning The category-wise strength of the NOS as on 31.3.95 was 159 as detailed in Table 11.1.
The staff in position as on 31.3.95 was 132 against 118 as on 31.3.94.
In addition, around 48 daily wage/ contract staff including administrative and class IV were employed as on 31.3.95.
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Table 11.1 Category-wise strength as on 31.3.95
Cadre Post Number Percentage
Chairman 1 0.6%
Academic
Dir (A) (1) J.D (Voc.) (1),J.D (Media) (1) 25 15.7%
D.E.O (2), Tutor (19), R & EO (1),
Academic Support
Librarian (1), Sr. Graphic Artist.(1) 6 3.8%
Graphic Artist(2), Asstt. Lib. (1), Lib. Asstt. (1)
Administrative 54.7%
(a) Examination Department
C.E (1), DD (1), AD (1), SO (5), DO (2) 32
Asstt. (7), Jr. Asstt. (15) (20.0%)
(b) Administrative Department
Secy (1), DD (1), AD (1), A.O. (1), 36
S.O. (3), Acctt.(1), D.O. (3),I.A. (1) (23.7%)
Asstt. (8), Jr. Asstt. (16)
(c) Academic Department
AD (1), S.O. (3), D.O. (1) 13
Asstt. (2), Jr. Asstt. (6) (8%)
(d) Computer Centre
Jr. Asstt (5) 5
(3%)
Technical
SAP (1),P.O (1), EDP Supv. (1)
Technical Asstt.(2),PS to CM(1),PA(3) 22 13.8%
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
Project Staff A number of project posts of academic and non-academic staff were created for fixed periods of the duration of the various projects started during the year. These included 7 posts of Project Fellows; 3 posts of Project Associate Fellows; 7 posts of Project Assistants; and 11 posts of Project Stenos/Typists.
Twenty-six project staff were in position as on 31.3.95.
Professionals in the Areas of Felt needs To fill in the gaps of expertise, services of Advisors/Consultants with academic eminence and rich administrative experience were availed. These included Shri S.C. Mittal (Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission); Prof. Utpal Banerjee (Former Director General, All India Management Association); Shri R.P.Saxena (Former Registrar, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration); Dr. (Ms) Kusum Kamat; and Col. S.K Sarkar.
Staff Changes
Cadre Staff
joined Sarva Shri Rajendra Jain, Dharamvir Vashist and C. Seshasai joined as Desk Officers on 11.5.94, 12.5.94 and 17.5.94 respectively.
Sarva Shri P.P. Saxena and T.J. Mathew joined as Section Officers on 3.6.94 and 1.7.94 respectively.
Sh. Banwarilal and Ms Dayawati joined as junior Assistants on 14.6.94.
Sarva Shri S.S. Duggal, Tutor (Techni-
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cal), Abhay Kumar, Tutor (Para Medical), Ms Rachna Bhatia, Tutor (Hindi), Dr. Oum Prakash, Tutor (Physics) and Shri T.N. Giri, Tutor (Political Science) joined on 15.6.94, 1.8.94, 13.9.94, 13.9.94 and 17.2.95 respectively.
Shri. S.P. Singh, Secretary joined on 12.8.94 on deputation from the state government of Mizoram.
Left Sarva Shri K. Sivaraman and S.K. Bhatia, Section Officers rejoined the parent offices on completion of their deputation periods on 31.5.94 and 31.3.95 respectively.
Shri Om Parkash, Stenographer left 6.6.94.
Km. Rashmi, junior Assistant left on 25.10.94.
Shri S.K. Anand, Assistant Director proceeded on deputation to the Indian Statistical Institute on 6.1.95.
Shri S.P. Singh, Secretary was repatriated to his parent office on 23- 3.95.
Project Staff
Joined Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Deputy Education Officer; Ms. Sushmita Mitra, Deputy Education Officer; Ms. Anita Priyadarshani, Tutor and Ms. Gopa Biswas, Tutor already working on the faculty of the National Open School, took over as Project Fellows, Regional Languages, Human Resource Development, Life Enrichment and Question Bank Projects on 26.5.94, 1.7.94, 26.5.94 and 1.6.94 respectively;
Dr. (Ms) Neelam Sinha, Senior Lecturer, Post Graduate Training College, Shillong, Meghalaya joined as Project Fellow, Student Support Services Project on deputation on 7.6.94;
Dr. M. Kandan, joined as Project Fellow, Learning Skills on 15.6.94.
Dr. (Ms) Ranjana Srivastava, Associate Fellow, N.I.E.P.A., joined as Project Fellow, Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation Project on 22.8.94.
Dr. (Ms) Ritu Dangwal and Dr. O.P. Sharma, joined as Project Associate Fellows on 3.6.94 and 23.5.94 respectively.
Ms. Saloni Chawla, Shri S.K. Das, Shri P.K. Mishra, Ms. Neelam Gupta, Ms. E. Parvathama, Ms. Savita Kaushal, Ms. Sistla Rama Devi and Ms. Vibha Thyagi joined as Project Assistants on 26.5.94, 1.6.94, 1.6.94, 1.6.94, 16.6.94, 17,6.94, 14.7.94 and 30.8.94 respectively.
Ms. Reema Arora, Ms. Madhu, Ms. Jaya Pujari, Ms. Savita Chadha and Shri Ramesh Chandra joined as Project Stenographers on 27.6.94, 27.6.94, 28.6.94, 1.7.94 and 1.9.94 respectively.
Ms. Madhu Bala, Ms. Bijaya Rawat, Shri Madhwa Nand Uniyal, Shri Parveen Saini, Ms. Shaila, Shri Vipin Kumar and Shri D.K. Chakravarti joined as Project Typists on 16.6.94, 16.6.94, 1.7.94 16.8.94, 16.8.94, 16.8.94 and 16.8.94 respectively.
Left Dr. O.P. Sharma, Project Associate Fellow left on 13.9.94. Ms. Savita Kaushal and Ms. E. Parvathama Project Assistants left on 4.7.94 and 31.1.95 respectively.
Ms. Madhu and Ms. Savita Chadha, Project Stenographers left on 26.8.94 and 23.1.95 respectively.
Shri Madhwa Nand Uniyal, Project Typist left on 6.11.94.
List of officers, academic, project staff and advisors/consultants as on 31.3.95 appears at Appendix X.
Work Study The Work Study Team from the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development had, on the basis of its assessment, recom- mended 41 additional posts in different categories of staff. Creation of these posts is still awaiting the approval of the Ministry.
Service Rules National Open School had adopted the 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. Draft NOS Service Rules (Part I) finalised by the Expert Committee were examined in detail by the Establishment Committee in its meeting held on 12.5.94 and approved by the Executive Board in its meeting held on 2.6.94. These have been enforced from 2.6.94.
Part II of the Service Rules comprising of the Recruitment Rules are still being finalised.
Liberalisation of Project Staff Rules The rules for the project posts were liberalised to include payment of medical allowance to the project staff at the rate of Rs.300/- per month at
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par with regular employees.
Delegation of Financial Powers In the context of rise in price index and with a view to increase operational efficiency, the financial powers of the Secretary and Assistant Director (Administration) were raised. Fresh delegation of financial powers was also made to joint Directors, Academic Department and Publication Officer.
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 Groups A, B, C and D categories respectively.
Scholarships As a further incentive to the children of NOS employees, the rates of scholarships for each class from VI to XII were raised to a uniform rate of Rs.100/- per month in place of earlier graded rates ranging from Rs.40/- to Rs.60/- per month.
During the year, 8 scholarships were awarded to the children of the-NOS employees as against 4 during the preceding year.
Staff Conveyance Service A major welfare step was taken during the year by starting metador service on contract on 5 different routes for NOS staff to and fro NOS Office at a subsidized rate. This helped in improving the punctuality of staff and their work efficiency.
Land and Buildings Two acres of land was acquired by NOS in Noida in February, 1993. Construction of boundary wall and guard room was completed but construction of office building was not taken up as the NOS is a growing national apex Organisation and the tiny plot of land at NOIDA is far too inadequate for developing NOS Campus to enable it to effectively pursue its mission keeping in view ills growing requirements and future vision. Alternate use of this land for construction of warehouse and mailing facilities of the instructional materials is being considered. Meanwhile, the question of allotment of 20 acres of land in Delhi or nearby surroundings for developing a separate NOS Campus was taken up with the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
To cope with the increasing needs for storage of paper and study materials, a warehouse measuring 4,000 sq. ft. was hired from Central Warehousing Corporation at Okhla. Another larger warehouse measuring 7,350 sq.ft. was hired from Central Warehouseing Corporation at Rana- pratapbagh in lieu of a private warehouse measuring 6,200 sq.ft. in Wazirpur Industrial Area. This raised the warehousing space and material distribution capacity with NOS from 12,200 sq. ft. to 16,600 sq. ft. approximately at the end of the year.
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.