Seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention to resolve official grievances may land bureaucrats in trouble.
Concerned over the rush of individual letters to the highest authorities, the government has warned the employees of ministries to mend their ways and strictly adhere to the prescribed channel of communication to solve their issues.
In a letter dated June 6 to all departments, the Ministry of Personnel said instead of writing to their immediate superiors, the officers at different levels were approaching the highest functionaries, thus violating the Central Civil Services (CCS) conduct rules. It also recommended disciplinary action against erring government servants.
The letter said the problem is more acute in large departments, where even very junior employees at clerical levels address multiple representations to the minister and even Prime Minister.
“Apart from individual representations, the service unions have also developed this tendency to write to
the ministers and Prime Minister on individual grievances.
Some of these representations are forwarded through Members of Parliament, in violation of the CCS conduct rules,” it said.
The Ministry of Personnel said if any government servant wished to press a claim or to redress a grievance, the proper course was to address his immediate superior.
“Submission of representations directly to the highest authorities, bypassing the prescribed channel, has to be viewed seriously and appropriate disciplinary action should be taken against those who violate these
instructions as it can rightly be treated as an unbecoming conduct,” the ministry letter stated.