Haryana gets new transfer regime, CMO emerges more powerful

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, January 29

The state has got a new transfer regime in the run-up to the parliamentary and Assembly elections this year in which the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) will call the shots.

Under the new transfer regime, which brings the “entire process of transfers within the ambit of e-governance”, the CMO will wield absolute powers regarding the transfers of Class I, II, III and IV employees with the role of the ministers apparently being downgraded.

Ministers’ wings clipped

• The CMO gets absolute powers in transfer matters with the role of the ministers apparently being downgraded
• Now, “preliminary transfer advisory” to be converted into “final transfer advisory” if no objection is raised within two days
• The “final transfer advisory” to be implemented within three days by the department concerned
• Departments given two days to raise objections to any transfer on administrative/legal grounds

The decision is seen as a move to streamline the process of transfers and reduce the discretion of the ministers in such cases.

A senior functionary of the CMO told The Tribune that the decision had been taken to implement the policy through e-governance mode after concern were raised that its manual implementation led to inordinate delay in transfers.

“It will also cut red tape as currently files remain stuck with various ministries for a long time, defeating the very purpose of e-governance,” he said.

Now, the CMO would issue the “preliminary transfer advisory” to the authorities concerned based on suggestions received from the department or request directly received by the CMO.

“If no objection is received on the ‘preliminary transfer advisory’ at the CMO within two days, the said advisory will automatically get converted into the ‘final transfer advisory’ and be implemented immediately by the administrative secretary or the head of department concerned,” it said.

In case of any objection to the “preliminary transfer advisory” on legal/policy grounds, the matter would be referred back to the CMO within two days through email. The “final transfer advisory” sent by the CMO to the department concerned would have to be implemented within three working days, the new policy said.

“The ‘preliminary transfer policy’ and the ‘final transfer policy’ will only be sent through email to the administrative secretary/head of the department concerned who will be duty-bound to ensure the compliance of the orders within the prescribed time frame,” the policy said.