New Transfer Rules Worries Govt StaffByHemanthKumar
Published:13th June 2014 08:43 AMLast Updated:13th June 2014 08:43
BANGALORE: The new transfer guidelines of the state government reducing the minimum tenure of Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ officers to just one year and fixing the minimum tenure of three years for transfer of ‘C’ group employees has not only added to the woes of the employees, but also helped the ‘transfer business’ to thrive.Amid serious objections from the employees and officials, the state government has reduced the maximum limit on transfers in any cadre from the earlier five per cent to three per cent to assuage their resentment.However, the reduction of minimum tenure to just one year for Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ officials has raised questions about real intentions of the government. “This move will erode the stability and efficiency in administration. It is impossible to make any meaningful contribution to the department as he or she will be preparing for the transfer by the time the officials learn about the duties. Administration will suffer if officials are not allowed to continue in any post beyond one year,” a senior KAS officer said.“Admission of our children to new schools and finding new home every year will make our lives miserable,” an official in the Revenue Department said.Another recent move of the state government to cancel Cadre Management Authority, which used to examine the reasons for transfer of any employee, has only helped the touts and political wheeler-dealers to make some quick money. Government employees thronging Legislators’ hostel and Ministers’ chambers and residences with transfer requests or requests for cancelling transfers has become a common sight now.It is common talk in the corridors of Vidhana Soudha that rate for transfer of ‘C’ and ‘D’ group employee is anywhere between `50,000 to `1 lakh. The rate for group ‘A’ and ‘B’ officers could go up toa whopping `1 crore for posts like road transport Officers in Transport Department, sub-registrars in Revenue Department, and engineers in PWD and Irrigation departments.What is surprising is the fact that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself had expressed his preferencefor a minimum tenure of two years for government employees at any level just a few days before the new guidelines were issued.The Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Harnahalli Ramaswamy in its report in 2001 had recommended a minimum tenure of three years for group A and B posts, four years for ‘C’ group posts and seven years for ‘D’ group posts in the interest of better administration and controlling administrative expenditure.Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra defended the decision when Express asked him about the adverse impact of the reduced tenure. “The impact will be very low. We have reduced the maximum transfer limit in any cadre tothree per cent from the earlier five to ensure that the transfer does not affect administration.”President of KAS Officers Association, S R Venkateshtold Express that the transfer of employees or officials is the prerogative of the state government. “The scale of inconvenience would not be much as the government has assured that the maximum limitfor transfers in any cadre will be kept below three per cent,” he added.State Government Employees Association president LByrappa said “I made a strong demand for at least three year tenure for any post. We agreed for the new guidelines only after the CM assured that transfers would be kept below 3 per cent of the cadre strength. We will wait and watch.”
