The Gujarat government has withheld the salaries of 900 to 1,000 Class 1 and Class 2 officials in the state for not adhering to service rules of filing annual property returns.
“As this was for the first time, we gave extension up to March-end but still many have failed to file the returns, so we have withheld their salaries,” Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh told reporters.
“We hope that they file their annual property returns at the earliest,” he said
Gujarat has about 12,000 officials in Class 1 and Class 2 cadre, who are required to file their annual property returns as per the All India Service rules. This has been mandated to ensure that none of the officials indulge in any malpractices or accumulate property beyond their known sources of income. The officials are expected to provide the government with a detailed list of their properties every year.
“For now, we will issue them show-cause notice and if they still fail to do so, we would initiate departmental enquiry and take requisite action,” Singh added.
In April, Singh had said that about 3,000 of Class 1 and 2 officials were yet to file their property returns with the government and had threatened to withhold their salaries for the month of April.
If the officials fail to file their returns, Singh was quoted to have said, it could impact their promotion, training and empanelment of such officials.
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