[DoP&PW OM No. 42/11/2023-P&PW(D) dated 03.04.2024]

Sub:- Minutes of the 33rd SCOVA meeting held under the Chairmanship of Hon’ ble MOS(PP) on 22.02.2024, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi-reg

(33.3) Grant of increment to the retiring employees on the date of their retirement, if the date of their increment follows their date of retirement – Amendment to the rules governing grant of increment & extension of the amended rule to pensioners as a one-time measure

Grant of increment to a pensioner is contrary to the personnel policy of the Government” may perhaps be because of the reason that the Rules governing grant of increment stipulate that the employee must be on duty on the date on which he earns an increment and if the employee is not on duty, the increment shall be granted from the date of resumption of duty. Therefore, if the date of increment of an employee falls on the next date of his retirement, the increment that would have been allowed to him but for his retirement is not granted for the reason that the employee, having retired from service, is not on duty on the date on which the increment would have been otherwise granted to him.

The provisions of the rules, as they stand now, have made such employees ineligible for increment even after rendering 365 days of service after earning the last increment. The Rules on grant of increment have undergone many changes and modifications have been made in the past on several occasions, which were to the advantage of the employees and the retiring employees as well. Hence, suitable amendment may be considered

Discussion/Decision taken in the meeting

Joint Secretary, DoPT informed that as per the existing rule provisions regulating annual increment, fulfillment of the following conditions is mandatory for a Government servant to earn the annual increment :-

• (i) the Government servant must be in service on the date on which the increment falls due and;
• (ii) he should have rendered satisfactory work and displayed good conduct during the one year period preceding the date on which the increment falls due.

He further added that the demand for amending the existing rule provisions governing annual increment is apparently based on the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Order dated 11.04.2023 in Civil Appeal No. 2471 of 2023 @ SLP (C) No. 6185/2020-KPTCL VS. CP Mundinamani & Ors.

DoPT representative also informed that the matter was examined in consultation with other nodal Ministries/Departments like Department of Expenditure, Department of Legal Affairs etc. Further, Ld. Attorney General of India has also been consulted in the matter and based on the advice received, efforts are being made to seek clarification from the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the relevant issues-including rule provisions-which need elucidation. Further action, as may be required in the wake of Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, can be taken on completion on the said exercise.

The Chairman, SCOVA directed DoPT to examine this issue in consultation with Ld. Attorney General expeditiously.

(Action : Department of Personnel & Training)

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To reduce the number of vexatious and malicious complaints the government has decided to encourage the complainants to mention their Aadhaar card numbers while filing grievances on governance-related matters through an online platform.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), which is the nodal agency for formulating policy guidelines for citizen-centric governance, manages a Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System.

People can visit public grievance website — http://pgportal.gov.in/ — to file their complaints. The grievance can be filed against any government organisation in the country through this portal.

“There have been some vexatious complaints and those with no concrete information. People should be encouraged to mention their Aadhaar number so that false complaints can be separated from the genuine ones and there is no harassment of government officials in the process,” a senior DARPG official said.

He said the filing of Aadhaar has not been made mandatory and is an optional field in an application form available online for lodging grievances.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number which acts as a proof of identity and address anywhere in the country.

Grievances are now also being monitored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself through the online Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) wherein grievances identified for systemic changes are discussed through video conferencing with the concerned Secretaries.

A mobile application was also launched in October last year which can be downloaded on a smart phone for lodging grievances.

Lakhs of public grievances are filed online every year. About three lakhs grievances were filed in 2014, 2.35 lakh in 2013 and 2.01 lakh in 2012, according to government data.

PTI

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