Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 25: In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that approval from Union Minister-in-charge, Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is required before suspending an IAS officer working under Central Government and that the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969, have recently been amended in order to provide adequate safeguards against arbitrary use of executive power in cadre management of All India Services (AIS) officers and specially against arbitrary suspension of these officers.
Elaborating further, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that All India Services officers with Central Government shall only be suspended with the approval of Minister-in-charge, Department of Personnel & Training on recommendations of the Central Review Committee as amended. The Central Review Committee will comprise of Secretary DoPT, Secretary of the concerned Ministry and Establishment Officer or Additional Secretary, DoPT.
Pertinent to mention that the All India Services rules are applicable to all the three All India Services, namely, Indian Administrative Service (IAS),Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS).
In a detailed reply, Dr Jitendra Singh informed the House that after consulting the stake-holders, a draft notification was finalized and sent to Legislative Department for formal vetting on September 3, 2015, following which the amendments were finally published in the Gazette of India vide Notification dated December 23, 2015.
Some of the other salient features of these amendments, according to Dr Jitendra Singh, included a provision to communicate the suspension of an All India Service officer to the Cadre Controlling Authority in the Central Government within 48 hours along with the reasons or grounds for such suspension. Further, the validity period of suspension has been reduced from 45 days to 30 days and in consultation with Central Government, the extended period has also been reduced from 90 days to 60 days. In addition, he disclosed that the disciplinary proceedings have to be mandatorily initiated within a period not exceeding 60 days.
In his reply, Dr Jitendra Singh said, these amendments will help to protect honest and upright officers from unwarranted suspension or harassment. The amendments have been brought in response to demands raised from different quarters including the various service associations of All India Services, he added.
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