DPAR wants ‘essential’ posts of junior assistants to continue

The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) has recommended the continuation of Group-B and Group-C posts, citing the shortage of staff. The government had planned to scrap several of these posts to cut costs.

In a letter dated May 14, the DPAR provided details on the number of such posts to the cabinet sub-committee formed for the merger of a few departments and scrapping some posts. The department was also against scrapping such posts, citing demands by various departments to fill vacancies of junior assistants, senior typists and others. “It seems essential to continue the posts in the cadre,” the letter said.

e-Office

The DPAR had also noted that only 452 of 1,320 Group-C posts were occupied in government offices, and the cadre played a crucial role in the compilation and movement of important files pertaining to administration. While a letter by Additional Chief Secretary to CM, P Ravikumar, on May 7 argued that the role of junior assistants - 187 against a sanctioned strength of 542 - - had become redundant due to the implementation of e-Office software, the DPAR letter contradicted the same.

The DPAR said that since e-Office was yet to be implemented completely in the secretariat, the cadre fulfilled several responsibilities. Apart from it, the cadre was storing and retrieving files in the archives, it said.

Despite this, the Secretariat Employees’ Association alleges that some in the government were keen on abolishing posts and merging departments.

“Even though DPAR acknowledged the importance of these posts in its report, a few ministers are going against the report. While DPAR opines that such posts are essential for administrative purposes, the government wants to scrap them citing the same ‘administrative reform’ as the reason,” Guruswamy, president of the Association, said.

The government’s proposal has threatened the services of more than 400 employees, he said, adding that only ‘Group-C’ employees were being targeted.

When contacted, DPAR (Administrative Reforms) Secretary Munish Moudgil said that nobody will be disengaged from service. “But the Cabinet sub-committee will decide which posts should continue or discontinue,” he said, adding that the five-member committee will also take a call on whether fresh recruitment for such posts should be held or not.