No field posts for over 35 Haryana officers under lens

Geetanjali Gayatri

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29

A reshuffle is on the cards in Haryana with the government drawing up a list of over 35 officers of the All India Services (AIS) and three state services who will not be given field postings or assignments involving public dealing.

This comes a week after the state government ordered that the officers of the AIS (including the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service), and those of the Haryana Civil Service (HCS), Haryana Police Service (HPS) and the Haryana Forest Service (HFS) who are facing an inquiry by the CBI or State Vigilance Bureau will not be given field postings or assignments involving public dealing. Sources maintained that CM Manohar Lal Khattar chaired an informal meeting earlier this week to discuss the matter and identify all such officers who would be impacted by the government order.

“The names, the case status and the present postings of these officers were discussed. The government is likely to act on this information which is still being compiled. The Chief Minister was particular that such officers should not hold any sensitive postings,” sources claimed.

Officers are divided on what exactly constitutes “public dealing”. While some maintained that the order would be confined to those posted in the field since there was hardly any public interface required by senior officers posted at the headquarters, others felt that the order would impact everyone across the board.

Sources said some senior officers had already begun to lobby for “coveted posts”, hoping that the incumbent would be “dislodged” and there would be a vacancy. The sources, however, clearly stated that “policy-makers” did not have any public dealing and no change was likely to be effected.

According to the order issued by the Chief Secretary, officers against whom prosecution sanction has been granted and the “competent authority or court” has framed charges in a criminal case involving moral turpitude would also fall in the ambit of the order.

Also, the order added that officers against whom departmental proceedings entailing major penalty were pending would not be eligible for field postings and public dealing assignments.