Issue guidelines to all depts on staff transfers, HC tells Chief Secy

The HP High Court has directed the Chief Secretary to issue necessary guidelines to all the departments of the state to ensure that each and every employee is sent to sub cadre/hard/tribal area at least once in service career and persons/employees, who have already served in hard area, are not transferred time and again to hard/tribal areas to prevent unnecessary unrest amongst employees and the transfer policy does not remain merely on paper.

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Justice Sandeep Sharma passed the direction on a plea filed by an employee, alleging that she had already served the hard area. Despite that, the Education Department once again transferred her to the hard area of Chamba.

While disposing of the petition, the court observed, “In the case at hand, the petitioner has already completed normal tenure at present place of posting and she has no vested right to remain posted at a particular station, but at least the respondent state should have taken due care while choosing the station of posting of petitioner keeping in view her earlier term in hard/tribal area coupled with the fact that her husband is also working in Government Senior Secondary School, Nagali.”

It said, “Transfer policy formulated by the state government clearly reveals that every employee should be sent to sub cadre/hard/tribal area, but this court has noticed in many cases that employees having good political relation and influence are hardly sent to hard/tribal area, and employees, who do not have any say in the corridors of government, are repeatedly sent to hard/tribal areas, which results in heartburn. Once transfer policy itself provides for sending every government employee to sub cadre/hard/tribal area once in her/his service career, endeavour should be made by the government to identify the employees, who have never served in hard/tribal areas, so that they are sent to such areas and employees, who have already completed their normal tenure of posting in sub cadre/hard/tribal area are relieved from such stations so that every employee gets a chance to serve in hard/tribal areas and employees serving there are not made to serve for long periods.”