New Delhi: Taking the periodic review of officers under consideration, the central government has taken a concrete ahead. It has directed all ministries and departments to maintain a register of government servants who are in 50-55 year age bracket or have completed 30 years in service. Based on their individual evaluation a decision in regards to their premature retirement will be taken. An order regarding this was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on 28th August which indicates that government is in no mood to tolerate inefficiency or corruption in any department.
The age of retirement for government officials is 58 years. According to the recent order issued by DoPT, all ministries and government departments will have to conduct a quarterly review of the officials, to establish if any of the officers need to prematurely retire from service. The DoPT issued this Office Memorandum under Fundamental Rule (FR) 560)1(l) and Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules of 1972. The objective of this rule is to strengthen the administrative machinery by developing efficient administration at all levels of governance.
Committee will be formed to make the decisions
The performance register will be maintained by each ministry and then at the beginning of every quarter a senior official of the ministry or department will review the report. The report of officers whose integrity will be found compromised, might be forwarded to Review and Representation Committee. According to DoPT the committer needs to constituted within the department or the ministry.
The Review Committee will constitute of the secretary of service’s Cadre Controlling Authority. For Example, secretary of Ministry of Home affairs will in the review committee for IPS while Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change will look in the case of Indian Forest Service officers, and the Ministry of External Affairs for Indian Foreign Service officers. In case of Boards such as the Railway Board and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Review Committee will be headed by the chairman of such a board. Let it be noted that after the Narendra Modi government came in power for the second time, it has been emphasizing on the need to compulsorily or early retirement of government officials if they are found to be corrupt or inefficient while executing their duties and responsibilities. Last year, the government forcibly retired over 50 IRS officials who were either accused of corruption or sexual harassment, etc.
