Borrowing a leaf from the Centre’s book, the UP government ordered for the review of performance of all state employees above 50 years by July 31. Non-performers and those with tainted records were likely to be axed and could be coaxed into compulsory retirement.
As per a government order issued by Cheif Secretary Rajiv Kumar, all department heads havebeeen asked to screen records of staff / officials above 50 years as on March 31, 2017 and complete the exercise by July 31. Non-performers were likely to be given a three-month notice before being retired. No reasons were cited in the notice. The order was sent to all departments on Thursday. The order is being seen as the first big move by Yogi Adityanath government to clean up the state administration.
The Centre under PM Narendra Modi has been carrying out such review of officers above 50 years and retiring some in public interest. Replication of this exercise in UP could ruffle the bureaucracy which is already witnessing a spate of transfers. The normal age of retirement is 60 years.
“Under Fundamental Rules -56, the competent authority at any time can serve a three-month notice to an official above 50 years of age and send him on compulsory retirement. No reasons need to be cited in the said notice,” says the order issued by Rajiv Kumar. It said that though the provision has been there in rule-books for long, the same has not been implemented in UP.
Meanwhile, State Employees Joint Council general secretary Atul Misra said, “Government’s decision of screening of employees on the basis of their working is absurd. Forcible retirement of state staff over 50 years is inhuman.”
Mishra said government has already banned fresh recruitments and now they want to retire senior employees. “This will not only create anarchy in government departments but also seriously hamper overall performance of the departments. The employee’s organisations will hold protests and demonstrations against the decision,” he said.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said that unemployment is the biggest problem of the state and such government decision will only aggravate the problem. He claimed that the Akhilesh Yadav government had given eight lakh jobs to youth while the BJP had made only fake promises on providing employment. “The BJP government decision was totally unethical and will add to the chaos in the state,” Chaudhary said.
Congress leader Saif Naqvi said that the BJP government wanted to impose its ideology on bureaucracy as the decision would create uncertainty among staff and adversely affect their efficiency. He demanded the government to first formulate a scientific formula for employees appraisal above 50 years and then proceed on screening.
BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said that due to rampant corruption and lawlessness during the previous SP and BSP regimes, lethary and corruption has dug deep in the state administration.
“The situation could not be allowed to continue and the government needs to take corrective measures. For welfare of the common people, the state government will take every necessary step,” he said.