Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 30: The Government today said it would strictly implement the Transfer Policy for Government employees and advised the MLAs not to seek “undue favours’’ of transfers and recommend only justifiable cases. It said the Policy has not been centralized as maintained by a legislator but was being followed as per the prescribed norms.
Replying to brief debate on a private member’s resolution moved by NPP MLA and former Minister Harshdev Singh that the House should adopt fair and transparent Transfer Policy of Government functionaries to check politicization of bureaucracy, Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather said the Government has already adopted a Transfer Policy in respect of Government employees.
“The Transfer Policy is already in place. It was being implemented. However, there can be some cases, where, in the interest of administration, the Government had to order transfers prematurely but such transfers were exception’’, Mr Rather said, adding that the Government would implement the Policy strictly.
Pointing out that Harshdev Singh had also served as a Minister and knew how tough it was to handle pulls and pressures on transfers, the Finance Minister said the legislators should also exercise restraint while recommending cases for transfers to ensure that the Transfer Policy was not violated.
“The legislators are elected representatives of the people. Naturally, the people including the Government employees had expectations from them. Some of the employees are very clever too. They persuade the legislators in such a way that they were compelled to recommend their cases to the Ministers for transfers’’, Mr Rather said.
Referring to NPP MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia’s assertion that no favouritism and implementation should be tolerated in the Transfer Policy and slogans of good governance should be implemented, Mr Rather wanted to know: “was it practicable’’?
He said there are 4 to 4.5 lakh employees in the State. “Sometimes, the elected representatives do fall in their trap and recommend their cases for transfers’’, he added.
Denying the charges of Harshdev Singh on centralization of transfers, he said it was not in his knowledge that even a Class-IV employee was transferred from the Civil Secretariat.
Mr Rather explained some features of the Transfer Policy in the House including looking at eligibility and suitability of officials and rotational basis transfers on sensitive and non-sensitive posts. The couples were given convenience postings while physically challenged people were also taken care of. The modification of transfer orders is done in exceptional circumstances in the interest of administration, he added.
The tenure of Government officials has been fixed as minimum of two years and maximum of three years. He said the non-gazetted district cadre employees are transferred by the district officers, the divisional cadre by divisional level officers and the State cadre by the Head of Departments or Administrative Secretaries.
“If the legislators feel that there were still some lacunas left in the Transfer Policy, they can bring it to the notice of the Government to ratify the Police’’, Mr Rather said and assured the legislators of strict implementation of the Policy.
Moving the resolution, Harshdev Singh alleged that in majority of Departments the “transfer industry’’ has been flourishing by leaps and bounds.
“Favouritism, nepotism and monetary considerations were being given weightage over attitude and experiences while ordering the transfers,’’ he said pointing out that a Working Group had also discussed the subject of transfers. He called for elimination of transfer industry. He added that it has become a culture with the Government to order transfers on ‘political basis’.
Mr Singh said he had brought to the notice of Mr Rather that a political leader had gone to his constituency in Ramnagar along with a convoy of vehicles and threatened the officers for not working at the behest of National Conference leaders. He claimed that three officers were transferred after the return of the politician.
Declining to name the political leader on the ground that he was not a member of the Assembly, the NPP leader alleged that this was also violation of the austerity measures as the Ministers also can carry only the HoDs with them during the tours.
He also took exception to the extensions given to some officials and said “it was return gift of the Government to them for working for their political interests’’. He called for ban on ‘wholesale transfers’ and posting of non-cadre officials on cadre posts.
Taking part in the debate, Ashwani Sharma (Jammu State Morcha) the Government was exerting pressure on the officers, directly or indirectly, for carrying out premature transfers.
“The good governance has been rendered a mere slogan. The Government was using the officers for political interests. There was no transparency in the transfers. The favouritism was at its peak,’’ Mr Sharma said.
Balwant Singh Mankotia (NPP) said the Government’s slogan of good governance should be implemented in letter and spirit.
“There should be no favouritism in the transfers’’, he said.
Bharat Bushan (BJP breakaway group) also supported the resolution and called for transparency in the administration.
Harshdev Singh later withdrew the resolution on the assurance of the Finance Minister that the Transfer Policy would be implemented strictly.
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