1,500 Group D staff to continue in service

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 22

In a relief to the over 1,500 Group D employees recruited under the sports quota in Haryana last year, the BJP-JJP government has decided not to terminate their services for their failure in submitting sport gradation certificates as per the revised criteria.

The decision comes in the wake of repeated representations from candidates, who had pleaded before the state government that “injustice” was being meted out to them as certain departments had initiated the process to terminate the services of the newly recruited employees.

Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma said the decision had been taken in “public interest” as the affected candidates had been pleading with the authorities concerned that justice be done with them.

Earlier, the state government had initiated the process to terminate the services of the employees recruited under the sports quota who did not fulfil the eligibility criteria as per a fresh notification issued on November 15, 2018. Interestingly, they were eligible as per the May 25, 2018, notification of the Sports Department.

The Haryana Staff Selection Commission had started the recruitment process in May 2018 and completed it in January 2019. The selected candidates under the sports quota were asked to submit their gradation certificates by August 31 as per the revised notification to continue in service.

However, now the state government has decided to release the pending salaries of such employees after October 31, 2019.

Meanwhile, a senior officer said since the matter was also under adjudication at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Group D employees recruited under sports quota would continue to be in service till the pendency of the case.