IAS promotions despite PAC objections

Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 20

The Haryana Government is continuing to promote IAS officers to the rank of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) without the approval of the Central government even though the issue has been raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its reports.

The situation has come to such a pass that against the three sanctioned posts of ACS, there are 22 currently working in the state, a fact admitted by Chief Secretary DS Dhesi before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Haryana Assembly headed by Gian Chand Gupta, chief whip of the BJP.

On June 28, 2017, the PAC had issued instructions for not making any promotions in excess of the sanctioned posts without the Centre’s approval. In a grilling session with the PAC on that day, Dhesi had admitted that the promotions were an “irregularity” and the expenditure incurred on the promoted officers was “irregular expenditure”.

When the Chief Secretary tried to justify the promotion of IAS officers before the PAC by saying that they were eligible as they fulfilled the conditions for ACS, MLA Harvinder Kalyan, a member of the PAC, pointed out that they, as MLAs, were also eligible to become ministers, but there couldn’t be more ministers than 15% of the Assembly strength. So “eligibility and sanction” were two different things, he said.

A notification dated December 19, 2018, of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), states that only three IAS officers —- Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (PS) to the CM and ACS-cum-Financial Commissioner —— are eligible for the ACS and apex scale.

Disregarding the PAC directions, six more IAS officers of the 1987 batch —Devender Singh, TC Gupta, Amit Jha, SN Roy, Rajiv Arora and Jyoti Arora — and three IAS officers of the 1988 batch — Rajesh Khullar (PS to CM), TVSN Prasad and Anil Kumar — were promoted.

During another PAC meeting on January 8 this year, the CS said the PAC had given directions on June 28, 2017, but Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had approved the promotions of the 1987 batch a day before on June 27, 2017.

Regarding more promotions made the following year, Dhesi told the PAC that on September 25, 2018, a file was submitted to the CM regarding the promotion of three IAS officers. The file carried the PAC objections and letters to the Central government for approving the promotions ex post facto in excess of the sanctioned strength, but the CM approved the promotion of three IAS officers of the 1988 batch, Dhesi said.

To further justify the promotions, the CS told the PAC that the 1988 batch IAS officers had been promoted in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal too and the 1989 batch officers in Rajasthan. He added that there were two sanctioned posts of DGP in the state and only four could be appointed against them but in actuality there were 11. He said the CM must have taken this into consideration while promoting the IAS officers.

The CS also pointed out that some Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officers had been posted as DCs, but as per rules they couldn’t hold that post beyond three months.

He also admitted that promotions between 2007 and 2013 were made without the screening committee’s approval.

On January 8, the CS sought six weeks to put up the entire issue before the government in view of the PAC directions and DoPT notification.

Media Adviser to CM Rajiv Jain said, “The IAS promotions have been happening in the past too. We will get the whole issue examined.”

Irregularity in appointments: CAG   

The CAG has flagged the irregularity in appointments in the past too. Its report for the year ending 2013 had said: “Five to twelve ex-cadre posts in the Chief Secretary’s grade were operated against the sanctioned strength of two or three posts without the approval of Government of India. The appointments were made without constituting the Screening Committee resulting in irregular expenditure of Rs 5.37 crore.”

Central nod sought, but got no reply: CS

Chief Secretary DS Dhesi claimed on January 8 that the Haryana Government had written to the Centre on November 21 and December 22 of 2017 and February 16 and October 23 of 2018, seeking its nod for the IAS promotions but it didn’t get any reply.