A massive resentment is brewing in the Central Government’s lower bureaucracy against alleged irregularities in promotion. Dozens of upper division clerks (UDCs) have approached Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against UPA Government’s alleged “injustice” and “nepotism” in the violation of promotion policy and related Cabinet decision. Hundreds of other aggrieved group C employees are expected to join the legal battle this week.
In the petitions filed on Friday, the Group C level employees alleged that “manipulations were orchestrated” to favour a staff working in the office of the Minister of State in charge of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal Ministry to oversee promotion policy of Central Government employees.
The controversy started when recently DoPT tweaked the promotion policy ratified by the Cabinet for the sake of promoting a personal staff of the department’s Minister. The DoPT allegedly extended the promotion list to accommodate the personal staff, the employees have alleged in the petition.
“A decision for extension of Select List of 2003 in the grade of UDC by inclusion of additional 2151 posts has been approved by Minister of State in charge of DoPT (V Narayanasamy) in violation of Supreme Court’s guidelines and DoPT’s Office Memorandum to directly benefit Ramagya Maurya, the Language PA of MoS, who will be eligible in for grade pay of 4200 in pay band II, he is at present not eligible,” said one of the petitions filed in the CAT in Delhi. The petitions are expected to come up for hearing on Tuesday.
Alleging clear violation of Cabinet decision in 2003 on promotion policy of lower level staffers, the Central Government employees also pointed out that similar incidents happened in the past also to “favour” some persons working with the former Minister in charge of DoPT.
“Seniority List of UDC up to 2005 has been finalised as per Recruitment Rules on the basis of available substantive vacancies and Draft Seniority List of UDC for the years 2006 and 2007 have been circulated for finalisation. Owing to the said decision, the DoPT is going to unsettle the inter seniority between Seniority Quota and Departmental Examination candidates, which has been already rightly settled.
Many UDCs who have cleared Departmental exams to achieve their present seniority position would loss their seniority drastically. They would have to appear in the same examination which they had cleared seven to eight years ago to appease personal staff of the Minister,” said the Central employees.
However, senior officials in the DoPT counter the lower level staff’s allegations by claiming that “it is the prerogative” of the Government to increase the quantum of candidates for promotion. At the same time , the lower level Central Government employees allege such “favoritism to help personal staff of the Ministers” would hamper the entire promotion policy approved by the Cabinet.
“The Government will file a suitable reply in the courts,” said a senior official in the DoPT, without elaborating the course of action. According to Group C employees, this “manipulation in the promotion list” would create stagnation in their services for ten years.
Source : The Pioneer, January 23, 2012
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