Chandigarh, September 12: The state government will review the service records of IAS officers of the Punjab cadre in order to “weed out the deadwood” from the elite service. A meeting will be held next week.
Punjab has a cadre strength of 221, against which 187 officers are presently posted in the state. Of these, the service records of 11 officers will be reviewed by a select committee of the government, headed by state Chief Secretary Karan A Singh. Though the service records of the PCS officers are reviewed regularly, the review of service records of IAS officers was started a few years back.
There is an existing provision in law regarding review of service records of All-India Service officers who have completed either 15 or 25 years of service. Service records of even those officers who have attained 50 years of age will be reviewed in the meeting scheduled for next week.
Sources say that there are three IAS officers who have completed 15 years of service, four officers have completed 25 years of service, while another four officers have attained the age of 50 years. The committee will be examining their service records, including any chargesheet or penalty awarded to the officers under scrutiny, and any adverse remarks made against them in their annual confidential reports.
A senior officer in the Personnel Department told The Tribune, “The rule merely seeks to strike a just balance between maintenance of efficacy in the diverse activities of state administration and cessation of completed career of an officer, whose integrity is doubtful and his services are no longer useful.
”Initially, the meeting was to be held on September 12, but a public holiday was declared on the day. The meeting was advanced to today. However, this morning, a senior officer from neighbouring Haryana, who is part of the committee that reviews service records of IAS officers, expressed his inability to attend the meeting. “The file for rescheduling the meeting has been put up before the Chief Secretary and the meeting is likely to be held next week,” said an officer.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
