Uttarakhand CM says inactive officers to be given voluntary retirement

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday announced that voluntary retirement would be given to officers who are not delivering their duties properly.

The CM told media persons in Dehradun that those officers against whom complaints are received related to dereliction of duty, would be given retirement. In this regard, the government will also consider the reports of departmental promotion committee (DPC) and evaluate the performances of the officers accordingly.

“We don’t need a policy for taking such decisions. We will give voluntary retirement to officers who are not conducting their duties faithfully and actively,” said Madan Kaushik, cabinet minister and official spokesperson for the government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, when came to power in 2017 in Uttarakhand, decided to do a ‘public grievance redressal’ event on a daily basis at the BJP headquarters in Dehradun.

Every complaint received during these events has been recorded and a database has been created. Later, the CM directed the cabinet ministers to conduct similar events in their respective constituencies as well. Rawat too has been attending ‘Janta Darshan’ at his residence.

Last week, the CM through an official note directed officers to resolve the complaints received during Janta Darshan programme within seven days time.

“Every Janta Darshan event is recorded and we have created a database in which we have analysed about the departments and officers that are not performing,” Kaushik added.

Majority complaints received during such events pertain to road connectivity, drinking water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and others.

But Congress criticised the government stating that the realisation has come after over two years of wining with majority in the state.

“Why has this realisation come so late? Many of CM’s cabinet ministers had complained to him in the past about how their orders are not followed by the officers. Why didn’t he take cognisance of the matter then?” said Suryakant Dhasmana, Congress leader.

“People voted for the BJP hoping that they would provide basic amenities to them, but so far it only seems that the administrative system pays no heed to the government orders,” he added.

When contacted chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh over this matter, he asked to call later as he was busy in a meeting.

First Published: Jul 24, 2019 15:59 IST