Last week, the government had informed the Lok Sabha that as many as 312 government officials have been either compulsorily retired, or been listed for retirement over corruption and inefficient work between July 2014 and May 2019.
Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said this in a reply to the question posed by DMK leader A Raja. A Raja wanted to know whether the government had ordered compulsory retirement to officials across the country.
The minister said that the decision was taken after reviewing the work of about 1.2 lakh officials both at the Group A and Group B levels. The retirement was recommended for 125 Group A officers and 187 from Group B.
The minister has said according to the provisions of FR 56(j)(i), Rule 48 of the Central Civil Services Pension Rules, 1972, and Rule 16(3) (Amended ) of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 the government has absolute right to prematurely retire officials on grounds of lack of integrity and ineffectiveness in public interest.
Using the provisions, the government had reviewed the performance records of 36,756 Group A and 82,654 Group B officers.
Last month, days after sacking a handful of tainted officers from service, the Modi government passed a directive to all departments and ministries to prepare monthly reports identifying officials facing charges of corruption and other wrongdoing against them.
Yesterday, it was reported that Modi government 2.0 has shortlisted 167 ‘transformative ideas’ and has set an internal target of 100 days to implement the plan. The first 100 days of the Modi government’s second stint would be completed on October 15, 2019.