The Centre asks Ministries to retire Non-Performers "In Public Interest"

The Centre has requested that all ministries promptly examine employee performance in order to prematurely retire non-performers from employment.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued an order directing the relevant ministries to assign the task of conducting periodic employee reviews to public sector undertakings (PSUs), banks, autonomous institutions, and statutory organisations within their administrative control.

According to DoPT, from time to time, instructions have been issued for undertaking periodic review of the government servants' performance. This is to determine whether they "should be retained in service or retired from service prematurely, in public interest".

As per the order issued to the secretaries of all central government departments, it is repeatedly requested to the administrative ministries and departments to follow the guidelines issued in this regard and furnish a report to this effect to the DoPT.

However, it has come to notice that various ministries and departments are not adhering to the said guidelines resulting in delay in identifying the government employees due for review under relevant provisions of Fundamental Rules (FR)-56 (J)/(I) and Rule 48 of Central Civil Services or CCS (Pension) Rules (now, revised as Rule 42 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021), it said.

These rules introduce the periodic review policy and premature retirement of government servants to ensure efficiency, economy and speed in the disposal of the government functions.

"In view of the above, the ministries/departments are requested to take immediate action to identify the employees due for review under relevant provisions of Fundamental/Pension Rules and ensure that their cases are expeditiously submitted for consideration before the duly constituted review committee as per extant instructions," read the order dated June 27.

Further, all the ministries, departments and organisations have been asked "to strictly adhere" to the timeline mentioned in DoPT's order issued in this regard in 2020 "for undertaking the exercise of review of performance of the government servants and for the employees of PSUs/banks/autonomous institutions/statutory organisations under their administrative control to ensure that the employees with doubtful integrity or found to be ineffective are not allowed to continue in government", according to the order.   

The DoPT had issued comprehensive and consolidated guidelines through its 2020 order detailing the procedures to be followed in identifying the cases of premature retirement.

All ministries and departments have been asked to furnish a report to the DoPT in a particular format by the 15th day of each month starting from July, 2024, it added.