Portal for regular departmental action cases against public servants launched in J&K

Jammu, Sep 19 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration has launched a portal for regular departmental action (RDA) cases initiated against public servants to streamline the procedure laid down for conducting departmental proceedings, a circular stated on Tuesday.

It would also help monitor progress of the case for enforcing adherence to prescribed timelines.

The portal provides a window for referral of cases from the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to the General Administration Department (GAD) and their further referral to the departments concerned.

“It also provides a window for uploading RDA cases initiated by the departments on their own. The portal shall work as a channel for communication with respect to RDA cases between the GAD and the departments, as also between GAD and ACB,” reads a circular issued by Commissioner Secretary, GAD, Sanjeev Verma.

He said pursuant to verifications, joint surprise checks, FIRs, preliminary inquiries conducted by investigating agencies the ACB and the crime branch of the state police – the recommendations for initiating RDA against public servants are received in the GAD.

“Detailed guidelines for institution of RDA and timelines for conducting the same have been issued from time to time. However, it has been noticed that the guidelines as well as the timelines are not being followed by departments, resulting into protracted delay in conclusion of the cases.

“The delay in finalisation of departmental proceedings leads to undue advantage or harassment to the charged official and such delays on one hand help the guilty official(s) in evading penalty, while unwarranted delays prolong the agony of the official(s), against whom proceedings may not sustain and is/are finally exonerated,” Verma said.

He said the portal shall contain electronic data related to RDA cases in digital format with a unique ID which shall be accessible to all the departments concerned and disciplinary authorities, with an overall realtime monitoring of the cases by the GAD.

The portal contains templates of draft chargesheets, order for appointment of inquiry officer, relevant notices, circulars and guidelines for aiding the departmental proceedings.

Consistent with the timelines prescribed for various stages of departmental proceedings till the conclusion of RDA cases, the portal has a unique feature to generate alerts, wherever any requisite stage of proceedings exceeds the prescribed timeline, he said.

“In case of any deviation or delay at any stage of the proceedings, responsibilities shall be fixed upon the concerned, who shall be liable for action as warranted under rules,” Verma said.

He said each department shall nominate a nodal officer, not below the rank of deputy secretary, who shall be responsible for uploading cases and their progress at various stages of proceedings, regular monitoring of the cases and liaisoning with the GAD.

In another circular, Verma took a serious note of the delay in submitting reports by various inter-departmental committees constituted from time to time for examining important issues requiring inter-disciplinary consultation or deeper analysis of various facets.

“Many committees since their constitution have either not held any significant deliberations or have not even managed to meet, resulting in an inordinate delay in submission of report(s). This situation is repugnant to the purpose of constituting such committees, and prolongs disposal of issues/matters connected thereto, a matter which has been viewed seriously by the authorities,” he said.