J-K Govt orders premature retirement of three officials of Prisons Department

JAMMU — The Jammu and Kashmir Government has ordered the premature retirement of three officials of the J&K Prisons Department for their involvement in corruption, underperformance and anti-social activities.

In a statement, issued to the news agency KNO, a spokesperson said in its endeavour to make the administration more efficient and transparent, the government prematurely retired three personnel of the Prisons Department on charges of their involvement in corruption and criminal activities.

The statement reads these personnel conducted their duties in ways that were unbecoming of public servants and in violation of the established code of conduct. “The exercise was conducted as part of the regular process of scrutiny of records of officials, who cross benchmarks of age/service period in terms of Article 226(2) of J&K CSRs,” it reads.

It reads that out of these retirees, one was found involved in a serious criminal case and remained under custody for three years, besides, the official had gained a bad public reputation.

Another official was found habitual of violating official channels of communication and has been found guilty of sending fake and frivolous complaints, misusing RTI Act and wasting the time of the High Court for which he was also fined Rs 10,000 by the Court. Major punishment was imposed on the official in the shape of withholding of three annual increments, the statement added.

It also said that one official was found involved in the smuggling of contraband substances inside Sub-Jail Reasi.

It added, “According to the recommendations of the Review Committee, the performance of these employees was found unsatisfactory and their continuation in the government service was found against the public interest.”

It added that during the recent past, as part of its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, various employees have been dismissed from service on account of official misconduct, after rigorously following departmental proceedings against them.

“Many cases are under scrutiny with the Empowered Committees constituted for consideration of cases under Article 226(2) of J&K CSRs. Further, many employees have also been terminated from service on account of anti-national activities,” it added.

It also reads the government has also initiated several measures for the human resource development of its employees in Jammu and Kashmir which includes an online Human Resource Management System (eHRMS), induction of officers into the prestigious Indian Administrative/Police Service, timely DPCs for smooth career progression, updating recruitment rules, fast-tracking the recruitment process through recruiting agencies and abolishing of interviews for most of the non-gazetted vacancies referred to the Services Selection Board.