The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday forcibly retired 63 government officers for reasons ranging from “corruption and disproportionate assets to inefficient work over the years.”
The move is aimed at sending a “strong message to corrupt and inefficient officials” that the government will “regularly review their work.”
The government said the officers were retired by invoking the clause of the J&K Civil Services Rules, which empowers the government to assess the performance of an officer/official after he/she completes 48 years of age or 22 years of service.
“With today’s [Wednesday] decision, the government has reiterated the essentiality of this clause,” said Naeem Akhtar, State Minister for Education and official spokesperson of the government.
The officers, however, will be entitled to pension benefits.
Of the 63 officers, 25 were involved in “trap cases by various anti-graft agencies, 11 had disproportionate assets while 27 were ousted for miscellaneous reasons”, the government said.
Those removed include five Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers and two Chief Engineers.
From the police service, only four lower-rung personnel have been given the boot.
Job policy shelvedThe State government, meanwhile, has gone back on the controversial recruitment policy it had announced in April. Government officials were to be recruited on probation for seven years and paid only one-fourth of their salary. Mr. Akhtar said there was “resistance from many sections” and the government reacted to the criticism “positively.”
