Govt takes serious note of delay, issues fresh instructions to Appointing Authorities

  • Verification of antecedents of selected candidates
  • Each deptt to have Nodal Officer for coordination

Mohinder Verma

JAMMU, Dec 18: As the timelines for completion of verification of character and antecedents of the selected candidates are not being followed strictly, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has issued fresh instructions to all the Administrative Departments and Appointing Authorities. Moreover, each department will have Nodal Officer for coordinating and monitoring verification application forms submitted to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) through online portal.
Vide Government Order No.528-JK(GAD) dated June 21, 2021 the Government prescribed procedure for verification of character and antecedents from Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in favour of the candidates selected by recruiting agencies prior to issuance of formal appointment orders.
In the procedure, it was mentioned that the appointing authorities, on the receipt of attestation forms from the candidates, shall forward the same directly to the CID Headquarters for conducting the verification of the character and antecedents of the selected candidates and the CID shall conduct the verification and forward the same to the requisitioning authority within one month.
In case the verification process in respect of some candidates requires more time, the CID may seek another one month. However, the entire time period in the verification process should not be more than two months under any circumstance, it was further mentioned in the procedure.
However, after rolling out of online application portal-Employees Verification System for undertaking the process of character and antecedents verification of employees, fresh instructions were issued vide Circular No.18-JK(GAD) dated May 20, 2022 and it was mentioned that Personnel Verification Rolls of all candidates shall be submitted only through the online mode to the CID Headquarters for verification and manual submission of Personnel Verification Rolls shall not be entertained.
Notwithstanding the laid down procedure, it has been observed that the timelines for completion of verification of character and antecedents of the selected candidates are not being followed in an organized manner and in some cases the verification reports are received after the expiry of the validity period of the select lists.
“Such cases are being submitted for re-validation of the select lists in relaxation of rules by the competent authority, which otherwise has to be considered only in exceptional circumstances”, the Government has observed.
Accordingly, the Government, through the General Administration Department, has asked all the Administrative Departments/ Appointing Authorities to take note of fresh instructions for compliance relating to the adherence to the timelines prescribed for verification of character and antecedents of candidates recommended by the recruiting agencies.
Now, all the Administrative Departments will designate officers of appropriate seniority as Nodal Officer for the purpose of coordinating and monitoring online character and antecedents verification application forms submitted to CID through online portal (EVS).
In respect of cases wherein the CID is facing issues with regard to timely furnishing of online character and antecedents verification report requisitioned for the purpose of appointment, the organization will intimate the requisitioning authority well within the prescribed timelines indicating reasons and seek more time for completion of the process.
Moreover, the Criminal Investigation Department will organize a special training session for such Nodal Officers to address the concerns with regard to submission of incomplete details in online forms and corrective measures to be taken by the departments in facilitating submission of forms as per the requirements.
“The Nodal Officers shall ensure that the CID verification required for the purpose of appointments is properly tagged so that it is easy for the verifying authority to differentiate them from the CID verification sought for other purposes”, the GAD said in the fresh instructions, adding “the Nodal Officer/requisitioning authority will appropriately guide the candidates, at the time of submission of e-verification rolls to be considered for appointment on the recommendations of the recruiting agencies, to ensure that the forms submitted are in order and all necessary information is disclosed”.
Once the e-verification rolls are submitted to the CID, it shall be the responsibility of the Nodal Officer to follow-up the verification process and timely reminders shall be issued to the CID after every 15 days in case the reports are not received, the instructions further read.