‘Framing seniority on basis of age, officiating service unjustified’
*Demand induction as per availability of slots
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 20: Apprehensive about further injustice with them even after fresh exercise by the Government, Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers of 1999 batch have submitted a representation to the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Secretary with the request to get the seniority list prepared on the basis of vacancies accrued to different feeding services so that they get due position and justice.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that these officers qualified Combined Competitive Exam in the year 1995 and were allotted different Gazetted Services in July 1999 which were feeding services for induction into the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service commonly known as KAS.
In terms of the relevant KAS Service Rules in vogue at that time, the General Administration Department was supposed to induct officers of the different feeding services on yearly basis as per the slots/vacancies available to the respective feeding services.
But, instead of the prescribed procedure under Rules, all the vacancies in the Time Scale of KAS were deliberately allowed to aggregate and inductions into the KAS of whole batch were done in the year 2008 against year-wise vacancies accrued to different feeding services, sources said quoting the points mentioned in the memorandum by the aggrieved officers.
“The vacancies for induction into KAS were available for 1999 batch with effect from 2005 but the General Administration Department for reasons best known to it didn’t make inductions of eligible officers on regular basis when the vacancies accrued in the relevant year”, sources further said, adding “instead, selective people were elevated on Own Pay and Grade (OPG) basis even where vacancies were not available”.
The entire batch of KAS 1999 was inducted in the year 2008 while as Junior KAS officers of 2001 batch were inducted in 2006 making them senior to the 1999 batch of KAS, sources said further quoting the memorandum, adding “in the tentative seniority list of KAS cadre issued vide Government Order No.485-GAD dated April 21, 2010, the year-wise slots against which officers have been inducted into KAS were duly mentioned against the name of every officer which though were not final as few officers claimed that prior vacancy was available in their cases but was reflected wrongly”.
It has also been brought to the notice of the Lieutenant Governor that final seniority list issued vide Government Order No.743-GAD dated June 24, 2011 was challenged in the court of law as the seniority assigned to the officers in their respective feeding services was not in tune with the year-wise slots assigned to them as per KAS Service Rules.
Pointing towards the committee which was constituted recently to settle the issue of seniority of the KAS officers, the 1999 batch officers have further submitted before the Lieutenant Governor that they have learnt that the committee has proposed the fixation of seniority while taking into account the age of the officers and officiating service without considering the year of accrual of Time Scale KAS slot.
“On one side the officers of few feeding services were placed on higher posts on officiating basis even when no slots were available to them under Service Rules and on the other side the inter-se seniority of officers in their respective feeding service is being ignored while finalizing the seniority of KAS officers”, they have further submitted, adding “it is ironical if a junior officer in the inter-se seniority of the feeding services is placed above his seniors at the time of induction into KAS merely on the basis that the junior officer is older in age than his senior. It would be a clear violation of Sub-Rule 2 of Rule 16 of the 1979 KAS Rules”.
It has further been submitted that in case the seniority is proposed in the manner which is against the Rule position this will again become a never ending dispute and will be detrimental to the KAS cadre in particular and UT administration in general.
They have requested the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Secretary that the matter may be looked into afresh and authorities concerned be directed to prepare the seniority list on the basis of minutes of the Establishment-cum-Selection Committee meetings held from time to time and vacancies accrued to different feeding services so that all the officers of 1999 batch are given their due position in the seniority list.
They have also urged the Lieutenant Governor that in the larger interest of the KAS fraternity, the report of the committee and the proposed seniority list may be made public and comments of the stakeholders be taken into account before taking any final decision.
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