Each deptt to have Nodal Officer for monitoring RDA cases
Action to be taken against officers in case of deviation
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 19: The Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has fixed one week’s time for submission of pending reports by all the inter-departmental committees so as to ensure that issues can be brought to logical conclusion without any further delay. Moreover, detailed instructions have been issued for timely conclusion of Regular Departmental Action (RDA) cases by all the departments with the mention that in case of deviation or delay at any stage of the proceedings responsibilities will be fixed upon the concerned officials, who shall be liable for action under rules.
EXCELSIOR in its edition dated September 8, 2023 had exclusively reported that Government is planning to evolve a mechanism to monitor the functioning of inter-departmental committees and has sought data of such panels and pending reports thereof from the General Administration Department.
Similarly, EXCELSIOR had on June 24, 2023 and September 6, 2023 highlighted that detailed instructions are going to be issued by the General Administration Department on the directions of Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta so as to ensure timely conclusion of Regular Departmental Action cases, which otherwise get dragged for prolonged time because of inaction on the part of the concerned officers.
In a circular issued today by Commissioner Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department Sanjeev Verma, it has been mentioned that GAD on its own or on recommendations of various Administrative Departments constitutes many inter-departmental committees from time to time for examining important issues requiring inter-disciplinary consultation or deeper analysis of various facets.
Among other things, clear timelines are prescribed for submission of reports for disposal of issues requiring immediate attention. It has, however, been observed that many committees since their constitution have either not held any significant deliberations or have not even managed to meet resulting in inordinate delay in submission of reports, the GAD Commissioner Secretary has mentioned in the circular.
Stating that this situation is repugnant to the purpose of constituting such committees and prolongs disposal of issues/matters connected thereto, which has been viewed seriously by the authorities, the GAD has enjoined upon all the Chairpersons/serving departments of various inter-departmental committees to ensure regular meetings of all committees pertaining to them.
“It shall be ensured that all pending reports are submitted within a week’s time to the concerned departments so that issues/matters can be brought to their logical conclusion and avoidable delays and litigations on this account are avoided”, the GAD has stressed, adding “henceforth, all departmental proposals for constitution of various committees shall invariably have designated Member Secretaries, who will be responsible for arranging regular meetings of the committees for timely submission of reports”.
As far as Regular Departmental Action cases are concerned, detailed guidelines for institution of RDA and timelines for conducting the same were issued from time to time and latest vide Circular No.24-JK)GAD) dated July 17, 2021. However, it has been noticed by the Government that the guidelines as well as timelines are not being followed by the departments resulting into protracted delay in conclusion of the cases.
“The delay in finalization of departmental proceedings leads to undue advantage/harassment to the charged official. Moreover, such delays on one hand help the guilty officials in evading penalty while unwarranted delays prolong the agony of the officials against whom proceedings may not sustain and are finally exonerated”, the GAD said, adding in order to streamline the procedure and to monitor progress for enforcing adherence to the prescribed timelines, an online portal for RDA cases has been developed.
Now, it has been directed that each department shall nominate a Nodal Officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary, who shall be responsible for uploading of RDA cases and their progress at various stages of proceedings, regular monitoring of cases, liaisoning with the General Administration Department besides other issues relating to RDAs.
Each department will be provided with two login IDs-one for Nodal Officer and another for Disciplinary Authority in the department, which shall have an access for monitoring of the cases on real time basis.
“The legacy data of all the RDA cases received from the Investigating Agencies/GAD as well as the cases initiated by the departments on their own, which are pending with the departments as on date, shall be uploaded on the portal within a timeframe of one month positively”, read the instructions. Fresh cases shall be uploaded by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the departments on the portal as the case may be.
All the Administrative Departments have been asked to review the progress of pending RDA cases on regular intervals for swift disposal of the cases.
It is pertinent to mention here that online portal for RDA provides a window for referral of cases from Anti-Corruption Bureau to GAD and their further referral to the concerned departments. The portal contains templates of draft charge-sheets, order for appointment of Inquiry Officer, relevant notices, circulars and guidelines for aiding in conduct of the departmental proceedings.
Moreover, the portal has unique feature to generate alerts wherever any requisite stage of proceedings exceeds the prescribed timeline. This will be an aid in ensuring strict adherence to the prescribed timelines by the concerned authorities towards timely conclusion of RDA cases.
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