Khattar ‘mollifies’ MLAs, cracks whip on secretaries & HODs to ensure transfer order compliance

Order comes after litany of complaints from BJP leaders about delay in implementing the CMO’s transfer recommendation, says media secretary to Haryana government

File image of Punjab and Haryana secretariat in Chandigarh | Credit: csharyana.gov.in

Gurugram: The Haryana government is seemingly trying to clip the wings of its civil servants when it comes to bureaucratic transfers in the run-up to the general and assembly elections. In its latest order, the Manohar Lal Khattar government has said that its administrative secretaries and heads of departments cannot delay government employees’ transfers after receiving a recommendation from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). 

According to the rder, issued by Haryana’s Human Resources Department on 26 January, administrative secretaries or heads of departments must either comply with a transfer advisory — a note initiated by the CMO for the transfer of a particular employee — within three days of receiving such an email or must cite objections within two working days.   

ThePrint has seen the order, which has been uploaded to the government’s website. 

The circular, addressed to all administrative secretaries, heads of departments divisional commissioners, and deputy commissioners in Haryana, said departments cannot merely cite “administrative grounds” as the reason for their objections and must elaborate further.

The new policy pertains to Class I, II, III, and IV government employees. Class I government employees are the highest-ranked officers and include high-ranking civil servants. Class II, like Class I, are gazetted officers; Class III officers are generally clerical staff, and Class IV has the lowest posts in the government hierarchy.  

The order comes months before two major elections in the state. While the general election is expected in April-May, the assembly polls will be held later in the year.

Praveen Attrey, media secretary to the Haryana government, told ThePrint that it follows a litany of complaints from BJP leaders about the delay in implementing the CMO’s transfer recommendation. 

A BJP legislator claimed that several party leaders were upset that transfer orders were not being complied with.

“In some cases, civil servants even refused to implement the order citing flimsy grounds,” the MLA said, citing some of his requests as an example. “In such cases, we are left completely helpless in front of our workers. With elections so close, we can’t afford to antagonise our workers.”  

However, a senior IAS officer said such delays were often because departments received hard copies of these transfer notes instead of emails and that such files took between five-seven days to process.

“After the receipt of the note, a POC (proposal under consideration) is prepared in its physical form. In case of objections, the file would go to the CMO and it would take another 7 -10 days,” this official said.

Objections must be stated clearly, says order

In its order, the Haryana government’s Human Resources Department said that any transfer advisory will only be sent through email and “transfer orders shall be issued within three working days by the department positively and a copy be provided to the CMO through email”.

“In the first instance, the CMO will issue a preliminary transfer advisory to the department for transfers based on suggestions received from the department and suggestions directly received in the CMO on administrative or other valid grounds,” the circular said. 

Any objections to the transfer advisory must be communicated to the CMO within two working days of receiving the email, it said, adding that failing this, the advisory will be treated as the “final transfer advisory”.

Any objection to the transfer advisory on policy or legal grounds must be stated clearly, the 26 January order said. “Departments shall not send the objections on administrative grounds alone.” 

A Haryana government official told ThePrint that transfer orders of Class I and II officers are implemented by the administrative secretaries while those of Class II and IV employees are done by the heads of their departments.

When asked what kind of objections were usually made to employee transfers, the IAS officer quoted earlier said it could be on technical grounds, such as ordering a transfer when no vacancy exists. 

“Similarly, in some cases, the place of recommended posting is his or her home district, which is against (government) policy. In such a case, we have to revert to the CMO with the objection,” he said, adding that it was up to the CMO to disregard the objection.

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)