Ministers can shift staff, with riders

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 21

With a number of first-time ministers in the Haryana Cabinet who are under pressure from their supporters for good postings, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday allowed them to order transfers.

Since the Cabinet expansion, people have queued up outside ministers’ offices and residences with the request of transfers.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a meeting with Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora and Additional Chief Secretaries today in this regard and decided to allow ministers to transfer Class II, III and IV employees, but with riders.

Class I employees will be transferred with the concurrence of the Chief Minister. The ministers can shift an employee only in case of a vacant post or if two people agree for a mutual transfer. They cannot intervene in case of the departments which have online transfer policy like the Education Department which has about 1 lakh teachers.

“They will not have absolute power of transferring employees,” said a senior officer.

Till November 25, the departments have also been told to give information about those vacancies which are not required to be filled. In such cases too, ministers cannot order transfers against such vacant posts.

Till now, there was a ban on transfers in the state. From December 1 to 15, the ministers can order transfers. This 15-day period can be extended looking at the present scenario of the coalition government, said a senior officer.

Meanwhile, vide a letter dated November 19, Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora has asked all the departments to update the service record of employees, having cadre strength of 500, and formulate an online transfer policy.