Draft Rotational Transfer Policy of Central Secretariat Service (CSS) Officers – Seeking comments from stakeholders latest by 7.11.2014.
No.21/2/2009-CS.I(P)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
CS.I Division
2nd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi-110003
Dated the 21st October 2014
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject : Rotational Transfer Policy applicable to CSS Officers – Review of the policy reg.
The undersigned is directed to say that it has been desired to revisit the existing rotational transfer policy applicable to CSS officers. Accordingly, after detailed deliberations within the Department, a draft revised rotational transfer policy has been framed which is annexed to this O.M.
2 The stakeholders viz. Ministries / Departments, CSS Associations and individual officers may submit their comments if any on the draft rotational transfer policy. The comments should be brief and to the point and should be furnished only via e-mail at the address given below latest by 7.11.2014.
sd/-
(V.Srinivasaragavan)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Draft Rotational Transfer Policy for Central Secretariat Service (CSS)
The cadre management of CSS is centralized in CS.I Division of DoPT. DoPT posts officers of US and above levels of CSS to about 80 Ministries/ Departments/Organizations. However, in the grades of SO and Assistant grades, officers are posted to 42 cadre units. A few of the cadre units are a group of Ministries/ Departments for the purpose of cadre management in the grades of Assistant and SO in a decentralized manner for the purpose of posting/ transfer, conduct of DPCs, disciplinary powers etc.
2. CSS provides a permanent bureaucratic set up in the Central Secretariat and officers of the service provide continuity in the Central Secretariat. As per the scheme of things, they can be posted to any Ministry/ Department and posted to offices participating in CSS and located outside Delhi.
3. Rotational Transfer Policy for CSS officers has been there for quite some time. There is divergent opinion about rotational transfer of CSS Officers. There is an opinion that transfer of CSS officers results in loss of institutional memory and creates work related difficulties for the user Departments. Another opinion is that transfers are necessary to avoid developing vested interests. Further, for overall growth of an officer, exposure to different organizations and aspects of working of the Government is very important. Rotational Transfer Policy aims to harmonize these seemingly opposite objectives with one another by prescribing a fixed tenure in a Ministry and Department.
4. The existing Rotational Transfer Policy of CSS prescribes maximum tenures up to which officer remains posted in a Ministry/ Department. A need has been felt to review the existing rotational transfer policy. Accordingly, a Committee under the Chairmanship of AS (S&V), DoPT was formed, which after deliberations submitted its recommendations. On consideration of the recommendations, a draft revised rotational transfer policy for CSS officers has been proposed as follows:
(i) Tenure in a Ministry/ Department:
| Grade | Existing | Proposed |
| Assistant | 7 | 10 |
| SO | 7 | 10 |
| US | 5 | 6 |
| DS/Dir/JS(in-situ) | 5 | 5 |
(ii) On promotion:
(a) On promotion, an officer at any level shall be posted out of the Ministry/ Department if he/she has served in the same Ministry/ Department in any capacity for a period exceeding the prescribed tenure for the promotion post. However, an officer who has not completed the prescribed tenure will also be transferred out on promotion in case there is no vacancy to accommodate him/her in the same Ministry/ Department.
(b) If the officer is due for superannuation within two years he/she concerned will be retained in the same Min/Dept against an existing vacancy of the promotional post. In case of no vacancy of the promotional post then the officer will be transferred to another Min/Dept.
(c) If the officer is due for superannuation within six months on promotion he/she will not be transferred as in such a short period one cannot be expected to contribute usefully in another Ministry/ Department. Further, such a transfer may result in delay of finalizing pension papers. Such an officer will be retained in the same Ministry/ Department against an available vacancy of the promotional post. In the absence of a vacancy, the post held by him/her will be upgraded on personal basis by keeping one post in another Ministry/ Department vacant so as not to exceed the cadre strength. On retirement the post will revert to its original level.
(iii) Exemptions from transfer under RTP
(a) Officers of all grades within two years of superannuation will be exempted from rotational transfers.
(b) Officers likely to be promoted within one year shall be exempted from the RTP as on their promotion officers are transferred if they have completed the prescribed tenure for the promotional post.
(iv) Offices exempted under RTP
Officers serving in PMO, Cabinet Secretariat, O/o Solicitor General & Attorney General will be exempted under RTP. These officers will be transferred on their promotion and on the recommendations of the offices concerned.
(v) Surrender of officers
Unilateral surrender of officers to DoPT on any ground will not be allowed as surrender of an officer poses various problems before the Cadre Controlling authority. If an officer is not performing, Ministries/Departments concerned are expected to initiate appropriate action either to penalize or to reform the officer. Moreover, the officer surrendered has to be posted somewhere and it will be difficult for the Ministry/Department where he is posted to work with such an officer. If situation warrants that an officer has to be surrendered then a request should be made to DoPT with detailed reasons and DoPT will consider the request on merits to transfer the officer or not. If despite the instructions, any Ministry/Department surrenders an officer unilaterally, then such surrender would be presumed to have been made along with the post and the sanctioned strength of the concerned Ministry/Department would be reduced accordingly and no replacement would be provided to the concerned Department against surrender for one year. After expiry of one year, the position will be reviewed for restoration of the post and posting of an officer.
(vi) Grouping of Min/Depts
(a) Ministries/Departments will be divided in to two groups – List ‘A’ and List ‘B’. The proposed lists are annexed. If an officer has served his tenure in List A, he/she will be mandatorily transferred to List B and vice versa.
(b) Officers serving in certain Departments which are largely regulatory in nature viz. DoPT, MHA, Defence, UPSC, SSC, DOLA, D/o Expenditure etc. will be given a reduced tenure of one year for transfer. The proposed list of such Ministries/ Departments is also given in the annexure.
(c) The lists as above may be modified at any time by the competent authority in DoPT.
(vii) Preference for posting
(a) On transfer under RTP The list of officers due for transfer i.e. who will be completing the prescribed tenure under RTP as on 1st July of the year will be put on the web site of this Department giving one month time to enable officers submit their preference (maximum three) for posting in the Ministries/ Departments in Group to which they are to be transferred. As transfer is mandatorily from List A to List B and only equal number of officers is to be transferred under RTP between the groups, the two lists will have equal number of officers in the order of maximum tenure.
(b) On promotion The vacancies in each List in the grade will be published in the website of this Department prior to the scheduled date of Placement Committee meeting, providing not exceeding 15 days time to enable officers to exercise option for posting in the other Group.
(c) The Placement Committee will recommend posting of officers either on promotion or under rotational transfer keeping in view vacancies, past experience, seniority, specialized training done, preference for posting etc. In case of isolated posting involving one or two officers repatriating from deputation, long leave, training etc, approval of the competent authority will be obtained without the Placement Committee procedure to avoid delay in posting of officers. Officers on their reporting to CS.I Division from deputation etc. will be informed of the vacancies and their preference will be considered before deciding posting.
(viii) Outstation postings
The offices of the Central Ministries/Departments participating in the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) are mostly located in the National Capital Region (NCR). However, there are a few posts of CSS which are located outside NCR in the various regions of the country. The CSS being a transferable service, members of the CSS are liable to be posted to such posts located outside NCR also. Posts of CSS located outside NCR will be filled up as under:
Section Officer’s Grade and Assistants’ Grade :
(a) The cadre-unit will fill up the post from amongst the officers of the Ministry/Department by circulating the post. In case of their inability to fill up the post, the cadre unit will request DOPT to circulate the post and invite applications from eligible CSS officers in all the Ministries/ Departments.
(b) The tenure of Section Officer and Assistant posted outside NCR will be 10 years on that post irrespective of their tenure in the main Ministry/Department.
(d) If no application is received after circulation by DoPT, the present incumbent will be allowed to continue on the post for one more year after which the post will be re-circulated.
US and above level posts
For US and above level vacancies in offices located outside NCR, CS.I Division will invite applications from willing officers. On the basis of applications received, an officer is approved by the competent authority keeping in view the posting profile of the officer/ his family circumstances requiring posting in the particular station etc. The tenure of the officer in the outstation posting will be as prescribed for the grade under RTP.
(ix) Other issues
(a) Equal number of officers will be transferred and posted to ensure relievers are available for the officers transferred out. This is possible only if the number of officers covered under rotational transfer in both the groups is equal to ensure provision of relievers in place of transferred officers. If there is a mismatch between the number of officers covered under rotational transfer between the Groups, only equal number of officers will be transferred on the basis of higher length of service and the remaining left out officers will be covered in the next round of rotational transfer in the subsequent year.
(b) The rotation under RTP will be undertaken once in a year.
(c) To ensure smooth transition from outgoing to incoming staff, rotation will be done phase-wise and grade wise once in a year as under (indicative schedule):
15th May – Deputy Secretaries and above
15th July – Under Secretaries
15th October – Section Officers
15th December – Assistants
(d) The phased implementation of the transfer policy will be carried out from 2015 onwards.
(e) The cut-off date for calculating the period of residency in a Ministry/ Department will be 1st July of the year in which rotational transfer is carried out. An officer for being covered under RTP should have completed prescribed tenure as on this date of 1st July. The cut-off date for calculating two year / six months (in case of promotion) in respect of officers superannuating will be calculated as on the last date of the month in which rotational transfer order is issued.
(g) Retention / Relaxation of officers transferred under RTP
After issue of transfer orders under RTP, occasionally Min/Deptt may make requests for retention of officers for some period in public interest etc. Similarly, there may be occasions requiring officers to be transferred prior to the maturity of their tenure in a Min/Deptt in relaxation of RTP. It is appreciated that in the matter of posting, it is not possible to reduce every possible situation into writing viz. public interest, serious illness of self/spouse/ dependent children etc. Accordingly, such requests for retention/ relaxation to RTP will be considered by DoPT on case-to-case basis, considering facts and circumstances of the case. Retention of officers will be allowed for specified period only. Retention/ relaxation cases will be approved by Secretary (P) in case of US and above level officers and by JS in charge of CS.I Division in case of Assistants and SOs.
(x) Non compliance of orders issued by DoPT
Rule 19 of CSS Rules, 2009 provides as under:
“19. Inter-cadre transfers (1) The Department of Personnel and Training shall be the competent authority to transfer a cadre officer of any Grade from one cadre unit to another cadre unit and it shall be the duty of the concerned cadre unit to relieve the officer concerned within forty-five days of receipt of the transfer order or such further period if any allowed by the Department of Personnel & Training for reasons to be recorded in writing.
(2) If an officer is not relieved within forty-five days or such further period as referred to in sub-rule(1) the officer shall be deemed to have been relieved by the cadre-unit in which he is working and thereafter the officer shall not be entitled to draw any salary and allowances for the period of such overstay from the cadre unit from where the cadre officer was transferred.”
Every Ministry/ Department is, therefore, duty bound to comply with the transfer orders issued by DoPT and relieve the officer concerned within the stipulated period. In case of non-compliance of the order, DoPT will be constrained to issue order for deemed relieving, thereafter, no formal relieving by the Ministry/ Department will be required and the officer concerned will report to the Ministry/ Department to which posted in compliance of order of DoPT, failing which the officer concerned will attract punitive action by DoPT
***
List A
- Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
- Agricultural Research & Education
- Agriculture & Cooperation
- Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
- AYUSH
- Bio-Technology
- Central Bureau of Investigation
- Defence
- Development of North Eastern Region
- Disinvestment
- Earth Sciences
- Expenditure
- Home Affairs
- Inter-State Council Secretariat
- Labour & Employment
- Legal Affairs
- Legislative Department
- Minority Affairs
- Minority Commission
- NATGRID
- NDMA
- Panchayati Raj
- Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare
- Personnel & Training
- Posts
- Public Enterprises
- Registrar General of India
- Rural Development
- SC Commission
- Science & Technology
- Scientific and Industrial Research
- Social Justice & Empowerment
- ST Commission
- Staff Selection Commission
- Statistics & Programme Implementation
- Tribal Affairs
- Union Public Service Commission
- Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
- Women & Child Development
List B
- Chemicals & Petrochemicals
- Civil Aviation
- Coal
- Commerce
- Commerce (Supply Division)
- Consumer Affairs
- Corporate Affairs
- Culture
- Economic Affairs
- Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- Fertilizers
- Financial Services
- Food & Public Distribution
- Food Processing Industries
- Health & Family Welfare
- Heavy Industries
- Higher Education
- Industrial Policy & Promotion
- Information & Broadcasting
- Mines
- New & Renewable Energy
- Overseas Indian Affairs
- Petroleum & Natural Gas
- Pharmaceuticals
- Planning Commission
- Power
- Revenue
- Road Transport & Highways
- Shipping
- Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs & Sports
- Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
- Steel
- Telecom
- Textiles
- Tourism
- Urban Development
Ministries/ Departments for reduced tenure by one year
- Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
- Central Bureau of Investigation
- Defence
- Expenditure
- Home Affairs
- Legal Affairs
- Legislative Department
- NATGRID
- NDMA
- Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare
- Personnel & Training
- Staff Selection Commission
- Union Public Service Commission
Source: www.persmin.nic.in
[http://documents.doptcirculars.nic.in/D2/D02csd/merged.pdf]
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