Appointments in JK-IMPARD in violation of rules
Panel was also supposed to evaluate overall functioning
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 21: A committee of officers, which was assigned the task of conducting enquiry into the appointment of faculty members in Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (JK-IMPARD) in violation of rules within a period of one month, has failed to submit report even after the lapse of over two years.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
The General Administration Department Vide Order No.85 dated January 23, 2023 constituted a committee of officers to enquire into the matter relating to the appointment of faculty members in Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (JK-IMPARD) in violation of rules.
The committee comprising of the then Financial Commissioner Home, Director General J&K IMPARD, Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department, Secretary Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Director General (Codes) Finance Department was explicitly asked to submit report within a period of one month.
However, even after the lapse of more than two years the General Administration Department has not received any report from the committee, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “due to inordinate delay in completion of assigned task by the committee the objective behind ordering enquiry could not be achieved till date”.
Some members of the committee, while wishing anonymity, said, “earlier there was no meeting of the committee for quite long time and later some officers who were part of the committee were transferred by the Government”, adding “due to this no deliberations could be held on the issues assigned to the panel by the General Administration Department”.
They further said, “the General Administration Department should have issued fresh order fixing more time-frame for the committee to complete the task especially in the light of the fact that considerable time has elapsed since the formation of the committee”.
Apart from holding enquiry into the appointment of faculty members in violation of rules, the committee was also supposed to find out the reasons for not previously reporting to the Government the irregular appointments of the faculty members in the Institute, which pre-date the term of the Director General of that time.
Moreover, the committee was mandated to enquire about the number of meetings of the Governing Council required to be held under norms vis-à-vis the actual number of meetings held over the last five years and whether the matter involving “irregular appointments” was ever brought to the notice of the members of the Governing Council.
Further, the Government wanted the committee to evaluate overall functioning of the IMPARD over the last five years (before January 2023) and submit its recommendations for improving work/academic environment, management efficiencies and institutional integrity on sustainable basis.
Some members of the committee are of the opinion that fresh instructions should be issued by the Government so that illegality, if any, committed in the past could be rectified and road-map is prepared for further improvement in the functioning of JK-IMPARD.
It is pertinent to mention here that JK-IMPARD was created several decades back for in-service training to the Government employees as also to undertake research and consultancy in areas of crucial importance to the administration.
The basic premise of establishing the Institute was to inculcate quality decision making competencies among different individuals and organizations in the Government. The Institute plays a pivotal role in shaping the thinking processes and fresh perspective of civil servants and its role has assumed greater significance in view of the rapid advances in technology, economy and managerial practices occurring all over the country.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
