Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Mar 2: In reply to a question in the Lok 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 disclosed that Government is regularly monitoring the officers’ performance and said that the review of the performance of government servants is a continuous process for which the provisions under rules have been reiterated by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) from time to time and more recently, in September 2015.
Dr Jitendra Singh said,it is the constant endeavour of the Government to improve overall performance of its officers and wherever required, action has been taken in various forms including compulsory premature retirement, deemed resigned, penalty of pension, etc. At the same time, however, he hastened to add, the Modi Government is keen to ensure that there is no vindictiveness or witch-hunting against any officer so that every officer enjoys the opportunity to perform to the best of his or her ability and potential.
In reply to a supplementary question by NCP leader Supriya Sule, Dr Jitendra Singh said, even though the Government is trying to achieve the target of maximum governance by seeking to improve upon the performance of the All India Services and other officers, and also by acting against corruption, every care is nonetheless taken to ensure that there is no arbitrary action against any officer. He said, “we are seriously conscious of the fact that bureaucracy is an essential tool for good governance and therefore, during the last one-and-a-half year, we have brought in a number of measures which would act as safeguards against any arbitrary action against an officer who is performing well and is known for his integrity”.
Referring to a number of officer-friendly measures brought in by the DoPT in the last one year or so, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the suspension of an All India Services officer will now be carried out only on the recommendation of an amended Review Committee which is broad-based in order to ensure that no such action is taken against an officer without a sound reason. In addition, he said, the transfer policy has been suitably altered, particularly in case of those officers who are caretakers of a specially abled child so as to enable them to carry on to stay at the station where the child can receive adequate health care. Similarly, he said, the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) facility has also been liberalized to make the procedure simple for an officer proceeding on a tour availing LTC. After taking over, the present Government has filled as many as 9836 vacancies for specially abled persons during a short period of one year, he added.
Amid thumping of desks, Dr Jitendra Singh announced that in a recent decision, the Government has also brought in a provision for six months of maternity leave even for the “surrogate mothers” at par with the other women employees availing of similar leave.
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