Asset declaration: Bihar holds back salaries of defiant babus
Around 4.75 lakh Bihar government employees, including IAS and IPS officers, would have to wait for a couple of days for their salary as the state government has decided to disburse the salary for February to only those employees who have furnished assets declaration forms within the stipulated time-frame.
"The salary of only those employees will be disbursed within a couple of days for February 2011 who adhered to the directive of the state government to furnish the assets declaration forms by February 28, mandated by the government," Principal Secretary of the General Administration Department Dipak Kumar said.
Most of about 4.75 lakh government employees, besides IAS and IPS officers in Bihar had strictly complied with the directives and submitted the declaration forms to their respective Drawing and Disbursing Officers, he said.
The delay in disbursement of salary, credited directly in the bank accounts of employees, has been caused by government's decision to release it only when employees submitted their assets declaration form.
The government had set February 28 as the deadline for submitting the forms with their respective departments.
Senior officials of the Department said that all those employees, who failed to submit their details, would be given an opportunity to clarify their stand and the district magistrates have been asked to seek explanation from all such employees.
Uploading of the employees declaration on government website would take at least a week's time, Kumar said.
"We have also sent a proposal to the state government for considering action against the defiant employees, besides five IAS officers who failed to adhere to the deadline of February 28," sources said.
The Department had earlier sent a letter to all principal secretaries, secretaries, divisional commissioners and district magistrates, asking them to provide a copy of the assets declaration to the department at the earliest.
Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi had earlier announced that the state government could withhold the salary for the month of February of such employees who failed to submit their asset declaration forms by February 28.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Modi and 28 other ministerial colleagues have already submitted details of their assets on December 31, 2010.
Several employees' associations had written letters opposing the government's move to make employees' assets public as it would amount to "invasion into one's privacy and can pose security problems," but the state government refused to accept such suggestions and stuck to its stand on weeding out corruption.
