CHAPTER XV

 

SECRETARIAT ESTABLISHMENT & ACCOUNTS

 

 

PART A- PERSONNEL SECTION

 

15.1            Responsibilities of the Section-The items of work allotted to Personnel Section are as follows:

 

i)                     Recruitment and associated matters, including:-

 

a)       Verification of character and antecedents and medical examination of officers/staff before their initial appointment;

b)       Maintenance of Roster in respect of SC/ST/OBC categories in promotion/direct recruitment;

c)       Appointment on compassionate grounds;

d)       Appointment through Special Drive Examination; and

e)       Rules relating to recruitment.

 

ii)             Promotion of personnel from one post to another, confirmations.

iii)            Creation and continuance of temporary posts and conversion of temporary posts into permanent ones.

iv)                 Work relating to Parliamentary Pay Committee.

v)                   Inter-Sectional transfers/posting of staff and allocation of work amongst Gazetted Officers.

vi)                 Maintenance of Gradation List and Preparation of staff list, Grade-wise and Section-wise from time to time.

vii)                Maintenance of folders of Confidential Reports of Officers and staff.

viii)              Grievance Committee.

ix)                  Disciplinary cases and court cases.

x)                    Delegation of financial powers.

xi)                  Dealing with representations received from the officers and members of the staff in the matter of their seniority, promotions, etc.

xii)                 Grant of honorarium to officers/officials for various Direct Recruitment/Departmental Examinations and sanction of contingent expenditure.

xiii)          Holding of typewriting tests for Junior Clerks under ‘Efficiency Bonus Scheme’ and for compassionate appointees.

 

15.2            Recruitment/Appointment of Staff in the Secretariat-Vacancies for which recruitment/appointment is to be made, are identified as per the Roster points by following the prescribed method of recruitment by which the vacancy is to be filled up, as laid down in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat (Methods of Recruitment and Qualifications for Appointment) Order, 1974. Backlog vacancies, if any, pertaining to SC/ST/OBC are also identified as per the roster points. The Joint Recruitment Cell is intimated to conduct an examination for vacant posts and vacancies anticipated and to forward the panel of successful candidates. The panel is got approved from the Secretary-General. Appointment to gazetted posts is approved by the Hon’ble Chairman and appointment against non-gazetted posts by the Secretary-General.

 

Before the appointment offer is issued, pre-appointment formalities are to be completed, including medical examination by C.M.O. regarding fitness for appointment, and verification of character and antecedents through the local police/Magistrates of the Districts given by the candidate in his application. An attestation form is sent by the Office to the local police/ District Magistrate for verification of the particulars filled in by the persons considered for appointment and to ascertain that the candidate is of good character.

 

After the completion of pre-appointment formalities, offer of appointment is issued to the selected candidate directing him to join duties by a specified date in case he/she accepts the terms and conditions specified therein. The appointment letter shall state the nature of the appointment, i.e. whether it is against a permanent post or a temporary one or whether it is ad hoc and if so, for what period. The letter must state that:

 

(i)            The selected candidate should submit the following documents before joining the post: -

a)                   Attested copies of certificates for educational/ professional qualifications; proof as to date of birth; of belonging to the particular reserved category against which selection has been made etc.

b)                   Certificates of having only one living spouse or being unmarried, on the prescribed form;

c)                   Oath owning allegiance to the Constitution of India and maintaining secrecy, on the prescribed forms;

d)                   Medical fitness certificate from the Chief Medical Officer for non-gazetted posts and by the Board to be constituted by the Chief Medical Officer for gazetted posts;

e)                   Letter accepting the terms and conditions of  the appointment order.

 

(ii)              The appointment is subject to: -

a)             A probation period as per prescribed Rules, with provision for extension; and that during or at the end of such probation or such extension thereof the services can be dispensed with in the public interest without assigning any reason.

b)              All Recruitment and conditions of service rules as applicable or framed by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat

c)             Termination of service on one month's notice or pay and allowances in lieu thereof by the Secretariat.

d)             Passing of any test/examination e.g. typing test in case of Junior Clerks and shorthand and type test for Stenographers etc. within the prescribed period (consequences of failure to pass the same within the prescribed period should be specified).

e)             Passing of Departmental Examination if any within the prescribed period (consequence of failure to pass the same within the prescribed period should be specified).

 

                All offers of appointment are to be sent to the candidates through Registered Post A.D. at the correspondence or permanent address as intimated/indicated by the candidates. The acknowledgements are to be kept on record.

 

                All appointments of direct recruitment are to be made strictly in order of the combined select list, unless the name of someone has to be dropped because of being medically unfit or character and antecedents being not satisfactory.

 

If the candidate approved for appointment is already in service either in Central or State Governments, the attested copies of medical report and verification are obtained from the concerned authorities and thereafter, the letter of offer of appointment is sent to that office with the request to relieve the person concerned. A copy thereof is also sent to the candidate. A joining report is to be filled up by the person recruited/appointed along with other forms viz. Declaration on prescribed form regarding marital status and an oath of allegiance to the Constitution and to maintains secrecy is to be taken at the time of joining. An entry is made in Roster Book as per the roster point pertaining to the appointment. An Office Order and a notification are issued regarding the appointment of non-gazetted and gazetted staff respectively. After appointment to the Secretariat, the person is issued his posting order.

               

The following is checked while disposing the work relating to recruitment procedure:

(a)                 Determination of roster points, including carrying over of vacancies;

(b)                 Medical fitness certificate and report regarding verification of character and antecedents of a candidate being considered for appointment to determine whether they are in order or not (original documents are retained on record);

(c)                 Whether any disciplinary or vigilance case is pending against a candidate already employed with Central/State Government;

(d)                 Certificates concerning educational qualifications; and

(e)                 Certificate for SC/ST/OBC candidates

 

15.2.1     Computerisation of Personnel Information- As soon as an appointment or promotion is made, all relevant particulars must be entered in the Personnel Administration Management System (PAMS) software. All personal details obtained at the time of first appointment must also be entered. Changes due to career progression/posting/transfer will be entered in the software by Personnel or Establishment (General) Section as the case may be, as per procedure in the software User Manual for PAMS. The employee identity number generated from the software will be the Standard Identification Number for all other applications/references in relation to that employee.

 

15.2.2     Recruitment on compassionate grounds: Recruitment is also made on compassionate grounds to Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ post. As per the Government of India instructions adopted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, the facility is applicable to a widow or son or daughter (or adopted son or adopted daughter) of an employee who dies in harness, leaving his family in immediate need of assistance when there is no other earning member in the family. The procedure regarding the processing of applications is the same as cited above for direct recruitment except that certain relaxations are granted:

 

a)                   Recruitment procedure is made without involving Joint Recruitment Cell.

b)                   Age-limit wherever necessary is relaxed.

c)                   Temporary relaxation in educational qualification and typewriting is given subject to condition regarding the time limit by which the qualification/skill will be acquired.

 

15.3        Reservation- To give proper effect to the reservation prescribed for different categories from time to time, the appointing authority should treat vacancies as "reserved" or "unreserved" according to the model rosters in prescribed form. The rosters are intended to be an aid in determining the number of vacancies to be reserved and are not meant to be used for determining the order of appointment or seniority. The actual number of vacancies required to be reserved for the respective reserved categories is worked out by indicating the roster points and the actual number of the vacancies proposed to be filled during the course of a calendar year in the relevant roster register. In this way, the actual number of vacancies to be reserved is to be based on the points in the roster to be consumed for exact actual anticipated vacancies for a calendar year, the total number of reservations not exceeding 50% of the total number of vacancies to be filled in that year. The limit of 50% is applicable to the total number of vacancies, backlog as well as current, taken together for a given year.

 

The following instructions are to be kept in view for maintaining rosters: -

 

(i)            A common roster is to be maintained for permanent appointments and temporary appointments likely to become permanent or to continue indefinitely.

(ii)           A separate roster is to be maintained for purely temporary appointments of 45 days or more but which have no chance whatever of becoming permanent or continuing indefinitely.

(iii)                A temporary post included in the roster at the time of initial appointment when converted into a permanent post later will not after such conversion be shown again in the roster but will be treated as reserved or unreserved according to the point at which it fell when it was initially filled.

(iv)               Permanent vacancies which occur due to death, retirement, resignation or for any other reason and which are also physical vacancies will be shown in the roster at (i) above and reservation determined accordingly.

(v)                 Separate rosters are to be maintained for determining the number of reservations in appointments made by direct recruitment, promotion and departmental test.  Further in direct recruitment, separate rosters are to be maintained for each category of post/service, and each mode of recruitment.

 

Likewise in promotion, separate rosters are to be maintained for each category of post/service with further separate rosters for each mode of promotion i.e. promotion on the basis of selection or seniority subject to rejection of unfit etc.

 

(vi)               In case promotion to a category of post/service is to be made from different feeder categories, then separate feeder category wise rosters are to be maintained besides a distinct roster for determining the number of posts to be filled from the distinct feeder categories during the course of the calendar year.

(vii)              Immediately after an appointment has been made, the particulars of the person appointed will be entered in the roster register in the appropriate columns and the entry signed by the appointing authority or by an officer authorized to do so.

(viii)            The cyclic vacancy based rosters have been replaced with fixed post-based rosters that have been adopted for implementation in the Secretariat w.e.f. 1.1.2000.

(ix)                The number of points in the roster is equal to the number of posts in the cadre/grade.  In a grade of say, 200 posts, where the recruitment rules prescribe a ratio of 50:50 for direct recruitment and promotion, two rosters, one for direct recruitment and one for promotion shall be drawn up, each comprising 100 points. 

(x)                  The method of making a roster for a particular mode of recruitment is to multiply each post by the prescribed percentages of reservation for the different reserved categories.  The point at which the multiple for a community obtains a complete number or oversteps the number is to be reserved for that community.

(xi)                Whenever there is an increase or decrease in the cadre strength, the roster shall be correspondingly expanded or contracted.

(xii)               The roster is to be operated on the principle of replacement and not as a running account as hitherto.  The reserved points are fixed and vacancies caused by retirement etc. of persons occupying those points shall be filled by the appointment of persons of respective categories. 

(xiii)             Separate pattern of rosters has been introduced for small cadres (upto 13 posts).  The initial appointment is as per the post earmarked and replacement of incumbents of posts shall be by rotation as indicated horizontally against the cadre strength as applicable. 

(xiv)             Once a candidate whether of reserved category or unreserved category joins the post on which he is appointed, his particulars are noted in the roster register and a point whether reserved or unreserved depending on the candidate so appointed is consumed and in the event of his ceasing to hold that post by reason of resignation, death etc., the said point is not taken into account for being filled again.

 

15.3.1   Carrying forward and Exchange of Reservations: In cases of Direct Recruitment if sufficient number of candidates fit for appointment against reserved vacancies are not available, such unfilled reserved vacancies are carried forward to subsequent three recruitment years and in case no suitable candidate belonging to the appropriate community is available during that period, they are treated as lapsed. A reserved ST vacancy can be filled up by an SC candidate and vice-versa in the third year of carry forward.

 

In the cases of promotion by selection within Group 'D', from Group 'D' to Group 'C' and within Group 'C', the reservations are carried forward to subsequent three recruitment years. In such cases, the exchange between SC and STs is permissible only in the third year of carry-forward. However, in case of promotion by selection from Group 'C' to Group 'B', within Group 'B' and from Group 'B' to the lowest rung of Group 'A', carrying forward of reservations are not permitted. Therefore exchange of reservation between SC and STs is permissible in the same year.

 

Format of Roster Register for reservation for persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes is as follows: -

 

Cadre/Grade:

           No. of Posts – 

 

 RESERVATION FOR DIRECT RECRUITMENT

 

S.No.

of post

Category for which post is earmarked

Name of the

Person (s) appointed

and Date of appointment

Whether

SC/ST/ OBC/UR

Remarks

Signature of Appointing Authority or other authorised officer

1

2

3

4

      5

6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15.4        Promotion- In the matter of promotions, guidelines given in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat (Methods of Recruitment and Qualifications for Appointment) Order, 1974 as modified from time to time are followed. For this purpose also, vacancies are to be identified as per the Roster points except that reservation for OBCs does not apply for promotions, and as such a separate register for promotion reservations will be maintained.

 

Promotions are made after the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) determines the suitability of the person eligible for promotion. Normally, the DPC convenes its meeting every year in the month of January.

 

The proposals for promotion of non-gazetted and gazetted staff based on the DPC recommendations are submitted to and approved by the Secretary-General and Chairman respectively. The promotions are then notified through an Office Order for non-gazetted or Notification for gazetted staff. The promotee to Group-A or within Group-A is required to fill up a certificate of transfer of charge.

 

Following factors are kept in mind while disposing the work relating to promotion:

 

(a)                 Careful determination of roster points;

(b)                 Check whether the person being considered for promotion is eligible as per the Recruitment Order; and

(c)                 Obtain the ACRs of persons eligible and being considered for promotion from the respective Reviewing Officers well in time.

 

15.4.1     Terms and conditions of promotion orders: The order of promotion should contain the provisions to the effect that: -

 

(i)                    In cases where promotion has been made against leave/ short-term vacancy or a purely temporary post, the promotion will be terminated after a specified period;

(ii)                  The promotion is subject to all provisions of the Promotion Rules and other conditions of service;

(iii)                It is conditional on the passing of any test/examination or departmental examination within the prescribed period; and

(iv)               Wherever applicable, the appointment/promotion is subject to the order/decision of a Court of Law, and that the appointment/promotion shall be subject to the final decision of the Court of Law.

 

All appointments by promotion are to be made strictly in order of the combined select list unless the promotion is to be held up because of subsequent events, which warrant the adoption of the sealed cover procedure.

 

15.5        Departmental Promotion Committees- Department Promotion Committees shall judge the suitability of Officers for:

 

a)                   promotion;

b)                   confirmation; and

c)                   retention after completion of probation.

 

15.5.1     Consideration by Departmental Promotion Committees: All cases for regular promotions are to be first considered by the Departmental Promotion Committees (D.P.Cs.), which have to be constituted for categorywise posts. The D.P.C. is to be guided by the instructions as issued from time to time and the office is required to place complete and correct information before the D.P.C. The D.P.C. has to take care that: -

 

(i)                                  Every person eligible for promotion as per the relevant Promotion Rules and in the field of choice is considered for promotion;

(ii)                                The standard for promotion i.e. qualifications, service in the feeder category as prescribed in the Promotion Rules are strictly adhered to and only eligible persons are considered.

(iii)                               A uniform standard is followed for making assessment of all the persons.

(iv)                              The proceedings of the D.P.C. and the select-lists are prepared strictly in accordance with the instructions on the subject.

(v)                                Instructions relating to reservations, sealed cover procedure in respect of Government servants facing departmental/criminal proceedings and recommendation for their ad-hoc promotion, wherever permissible, are kept in view while preparing the select lists.

 

15.5.2     Constitution of Departmental Promotion Committees: Members included in Departmental Promotion Committees for Group 'A' and 'B' posts should be at least one level above the post to which promotion is to be made.

 

The Departmental Promotion Committee to consider and recommend the names of officials for promotion/confirmation in respect of various services/posts upto the lowest rung of Group ‘A’ consists of 

(i)            Joint Secretary/Director (in-charge of Administration) as the Chairperson

(ii)           Two Members to be nominated by the Secretary-General from officers of the rank of Director/Deputy Secretary/Under Secretary, one of whom belonging to SC/ST category.

 

The names of officers in case of promotion within Group ‘A’ are recommended by the Secretary-General.

 

15.5.3     Information/Papers to be placed before the Departmental Promotion Committee: The following papers are to be placed before the Departmental Promotion Committee: -

 

(i)                   Memorandum indicating the following information: -

(a)                 Year-wise break up of vacancies for previous years and vacancies anticipated for 12 months (January-December);

(b)                 Feeder category from which promotion is to be made, with requirement of service, qualifications and other requisites of eligibility;

(c)                 Seniority position of eligible incumbents;

(d)                 Names of incumbents against whom disciplinary/criminal proceedings are pending;

(e)                 Names of incumbents against whom any penalty has been imposed with nature of penalty date of imposition of penalty and period if any;

(f)                  Reservations position;

(g)                 Statement indicating position regarding Vigilance Clearance Certificate in respect of promotion to gazetted posts;

(h)                 Statement indicating position regarding integrity certificate.

 

(ii)                 Updated copy of the Recruitment and Promotion Rules;

(iii)                Upto date Seniority list(s) of the feeder category (ies) indicating whether incumbents are eligible to the considered and if not reasons therefor. Indication of the incumbents belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes should also be given;

(iv)               Folder of Vigilance Clearance Certificates of those being considered for gazetted posts;

(v)                 Folder of Integrity Certificate of those being considered;

(vi)               Completed Annual Confidential Report dossiers of those being considered.

 

15.5.4     Frequency at which D.P.C. should meet: The D.P.C. is convened at regular annual intervals not only to fill up existing vacant posts but also to draw panels which could be utilized for making promotions against the vacancies likely to occur during the course of the year. Since the process of writing ACRs for the previous Calendar Year is over by March, the meeting of DPC is held in the first quarter of the year and not later. For unanticipated vacancies and new posts, DPC should be held within 3 months in the form of a review DPC for the entire year, so that the inter se seniority is properly determined.

 

15.5.5     Method of calculating vacancies and Zone of Consideration: For holding meetings of the Departmental Promotion Committee, the precise number of vacancies for which select-list is to be prepared has to be worked out.  For calculating the number of vacancies in the current year, all vacancies anticipated during the next 12 months from 1st January to 31st December shall be taken into account and should include only the existing vacancies (duly sanctioned and not merely budgeted) and anticipated retirements and promotions. Short-term temporary vacancies should not be taken into account for preparing panels.

 

For one vacancy, Five Officers are considered. If there are two vacancies, Eight Officers will be considered, the formula being 2(x)+4, where ‘x’ stands for number of vacancies. To illustrate the formula, if there are ten vacancies, Twenty Four Officers will be considered for the post, i.e. the zone of consideration is twenty four.

 

The zone of consideration may be extended to five times the number of vacancies for providing suitable representation to SC/ST candidates. The intention is to have an extended zone of five times the number of vacancies in all cases where adequate number of SC/ST candidates are not available in the normal zone of a smaller size. For a single vacancy however, the zone will not be extended. The normal zone and the extended zone for vacancies will accordingly be as follows: -

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. of Vacancies

Normal Zone

Zone for consideration for SC/ST

If not available in normal Zone

            1.

          5

  5

            2.     

          8

  10

            3.

          10

  15

            4.

          12

  20

            5 and above

Twice the no. of vacancies+4

5 times the no. of  vacancies

 

15.5.6     Procedure for assessment by selection in D.P.C - All promotion posts in the Secretariat are filled by Selection, i.e., on the basis of selection-cum-seniority and selection by merit.  To assess the relative merit of officers:

 

(i)            the Confidential Reports for equal number of years in respect of all officers being considered for a particular post are scrutinised;

(ii)           preferably, the Confidential Reports for the years equal to the required qualifying service are perused;

(iii)          the overall grading obtained by an officer as recorded in the ACR is not the sole guiding factor but the assessment is on the basis of individual entries in the Confidential Report;

(iv)          the members of Departmental Promotion Committee may devise their own method/procedure for objective assessment of suitability of the candidates who are to be considered by them;

(v)           in case of each officer, an overall grading from among (i) Outstanding (ii) Very Good, (iii) Good, (iv) Average, (v) Unfit is given. Before making the overall grading, the DPC should take into account major or minor penalties and adverse remarks in the ACRs in the period under consideration;

(vi)          in respect of officials under suspension, charge sheet or criminal prosecution the DPC will follow the 'sealed cover' procedure.

(vii)         for all Group C, B & A [upto but excluding Rs. 3700-5000 (pre-revised)] the bench mark is ‘Good’ and filled by Selection-cum-Seniority. In respect of posts of and above the level of Rs. 3700-5000, the bench mark is ‘Very Good’ and filled by selection by merit;

(viii)        Officers with 'Outstanding' will be placed at the top of the panel, followed by Officers with ‘Very Good' and then by Officers with 'Good' (in case of benchmark of good). Officers having the same grading would maintain their inter-se-seniority of the feeder grade in the final panel.

 

15.5.7     Giving effect to DPC recommendations- DPC recommendations are advisory in nature and have to be approved by the appointing authority before they are given effect. As soon as proceedings of the DPC are received, the matter should be processed on file for approval/orders, pointing out any lacunae/errors in the proceedings. Where it is proposed to disagree with the DPC recommendations, the reasons should be recorded in detail. In case of Group 'B', 'C' and 'D', the DPC should be first given the reasons/facts and asked to reconsider and a final decision should be taken thereafter.

 

                In respect of Group 'A' Officers where Chairman is the appointing authority, the matter will be submitted for the orders of the Chairman and the orders shall be treated as final. Decisions on the DPC's recommendations should be taken within a time limit of 3 months.