Ending practice of ordering frequent transfers

18/10/2020

There is an urgent requirement to establish a system on the analogy of Transfer Season being followed by some States in the country and the observations of the Lieutenant Governor, adding "the idea of Transfer Season envisages marking a certain period during the year in which the departments/administration can order the transfer/rotation of officers/officials and avoid unnecessary re-shuffling of administrative set-up in the later part of the year. To put an end to the practice of ordering frequent transfers, rotation of officials, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has issued an order fixing specific period during the year for this exercise. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha conveyed his serious concern over the existing system of frequent issuance of transfers' orders of officers by the administrative departments to the Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam.
It has been observed that practice of ordering transfers throughout the year is adversely impacting the implementation of schemes and policies of the Government. The Para-B of the Transfer Policy read: "Transfers shall ordinarily be ordered in the first month of the financial year-April excluding the transfer of the teaching staff and transfers to Ladakh. The transfers of teaching staff shall be considered at the close of the academic session and must be avoided during the academic session". The notification of the calendar has been made with the intent of ensuring that the transfers are limited to a particular period of the financial year so that minimum dislocations occur during the financial year which would ensure better outcomes in the implementation of various Government schemes and policies. The Administrative Secretaries have been directed to dissuade their concerned Heads of the Departments from ordering any transfer/rotation proposal on lower levels so that period notified in the Transfer Policy of 2010 is strictly adhered to.
Now, it is to be seen how effectively the latest instructions of the Government are implemented by the Administrative Departments as well as Head of the Departments as thrust on strict compliance to the Transfer Policy of 2010 was laid a number of times. Besides following the calendar, the Administrative Departments are also required to ensure strict compliance to the provision relating to tenure of postings. The minimum tenure for a Government employee on a post shall be two years and a maximum of three years. However, Government can order transfer of employee even before the completion of minimum tenure if it is not in public interest or in the interest of the administration to allow the employee to continue on a post for a full term.

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