As an instance of the height of irregularity, the probe committee has found that same employee was transferred to two different places and at times the employees transferred from a ministry were not even serving in that ministry. [break]
Amidst widespread protests by various trade unions over the transfer of 1,811 civil servants, the government on January 18 formed a probe committee headed by Secretary of the Ministry of General Administration Dharanidhar Khatiwada.
Other members of the committee include Joint-Secretaries Kewal Prasad Bhandari of the General Administration Ministry and Dilli Ghimire of the Ministry of Law and Justice, and Under-Secretary at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) Narayan Timilsina.
The probe committee has found that most of the transfers were against the spirit of the Civil Service Act (CSA). While some of the employees transferred from a given office had already been transferred from there, in some other cases more than two employees are transferred to the same post.
Similarly, some were transferred before they had been at their post for two years. As per the CSA, a civil servant can be transferred only after serving two years in the current posting.
Likewise, some employees aged over 50 were found transferred to the Hill regions. Under the CSA, civil servants over 50 are not to be transferred to the Hill regions.
Non-gazette officers and office assistants should be transferred to places that are convenient to their homes but some of them were transferred to inconvenient places, again in breach of provisions in the CSA.
Likewise, some employees who were on sick leave also found themselves transferred and the Personnel Information System (PIS) entries of some of those transferred were found incorrect. Worse still, the minister himself is found to have signed the files on the transfer of peons, says the probe report.
Recommendations
The probe committee has recommended that the ministry resolve problems which can be addressed at the ministry level and forward to the cabinet the cases of transfers that need to be cancelled. The committee has recommended that the ministry concerned to do the needful if the transfer decisions require only some corrections.
The committee has also recommended necessary action against officials who prepared the transfer lists and those who approved the lists. The lists were prepared by section officers and presented by an under-secretary to the joint-secretary for approval.
Possible punishment
The officials involved in the transfer decisions would face departmental action. The ministry concerned can issue a warning against such officials or withhold promotions or grades or both.
The report submitted by the committed on January 26 was endorsed by a cabinet meeting held three days later. Sources said Minister for General Administration Ram Kumar Yadav is unhappy with the report.
Yadav on Monday transferred six officials at the ministry, flouting existing provisions that allow the joint-secretary at the ministry to effect internal reshuffles of employees. “Such a decision is taken from our (joint-secretary) level, but he took the decision on his own,” said an employee at the ministry on condition of anonymity.
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