Jammu, May 2: In a move, with far reaching consequences for curbing the menace of corruption in public life, the state government will be considering the proposal of a high level committee to block extension of service beyond 58 years to tainted and non-performing employees while agreeing in principle with the extension of retirement age to 60 years.
Reliable sources in the state government said that the high powered committee, headed by the Chief Secretary Madhav Lal – which recently submitted its report to the government – has strongly advocated that enhancement of retirement age to the employees should be performance-based and not “universal and as a matter of right”.
“Though the Committee was of the considerable opinion that the increase in the retirement age shall be in the interest of the government, the members unanimously agreed that no government employee having any kind of corruption related cases pending against him shall be entitled to avail the benefit”, a member of the Committee said.
“The government has to decide on the issue. We have examined the demand of the employees’ unions and its impact on the state administration and fiscal position”, the member, wishing not to be named, said adding; “However, even if the government goes ahead with any kind of age enhancement it would be made sure that the tainted and non-performing officials will be retiring at the age of 58 years”.
For this purpose, he said, the government has been suggested to go by the service record of the employees. “The General Administration Department (GAD), on the instructions of Chief Secretary, has already asked all the administrative heads to ensure the proper filing of APRs”, sources said adding that the government has initiated a parallel proceeding to ensure removal of “dead-wood” from the public service. “One list of such officers was issued last year, while another is at the final stage”, they added.
He said that the Civil Services Rules in Jammu and Kashmir were clear on the matter and government has discretion to remove such officers at any stage.
The enhancement in the retirement age is one of the key demands of the Employees Joint Consultative Committee, which had negotiated with the government on number of issues, including release of arrears on account of implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, removal of pay anomalies, conversion of the cost of living allowance (COLA) into dearness allowance (DA) and regularization of daily wagers.
The government had constituted a high level committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, to examine the demand with regard to the age enhancement and submit the recommendations to cabinet sub committee for further examination. The official panel submitted its report to Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, last week.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 2 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 2 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
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