The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Thursday sent a reminder, third in three months, to all ministries to abide by the recommendations of the Hota Committee on Vigilance Inquiries and Disciplinary Actions.
Most ministries have continued to ignore this even though the number of officers and subordinate civil servants facing vigilance inquiries is at its highest.
The DoPT office wants the ministries to comply with the standard checklist while sending cases to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for advice and disposing of all pending cases for sanction of prosecution. The original memos regarding these were issued in December 2010 after the report of the Hota Committee had first come in.
The DoPT also wants a decision on all cases where disciplinary inquiry has been under contemplation but has not been enforced and a decision on all pending inquiries. The committee was formed in May 2010 to come up with recommendations for fast track action against erring government employees. But since then neither has the speed improved nor the number of cases gone down. It is estimated that 17 per cent government employees face a vigilance action or inquiry at least once in their career.
Going by the figures, nearly 15 lakh Central Government employees would be under the scanner at one time or another.
Under the provisions of Articles 309, 310 and 311 of the Constitution and the relevant Service Rules, a civil servant can be removed or punished after being given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. Hota Committee has sought to fix the unreasonable delay in taking decision, collecting evidence and sending recommendations for investigation or action by the department itself. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the cases delayed at the department stage so later inquiries reveal little or nothing.