Rajasthan collectors can penalise officers by halting 3 increments

In a new circular issued by the department of personnel, if a state level officer posted in districts under collectors disobeys instructions or has misconducts on his record, it might cost them three salary increments.

The circular issued on Friday has given special powers to the collectors to act against erring officers.

Currently, under rule 17 of Rajasthan Civil Services CCA (Classification, Control and Appeal ) the collector when witness to disobedience, misconduct or indiscipline is empowered to issue a chargesheet, which is later sent to the concerned officer's department that then takes action accordingly.

Now, the government, acting under sub-rule 15 of the rules, has given special powers to the collector to decide at his or her own level. To that end, the collector now may block three salary increment of the erring officer up to three months without forwarding the issue to another authority or department.

However, the accused officer may appeal against the punishment before the appropriate authority, says the circular issued by DoP joint secretary Vivek Kumar.

Prior to this absolute special powers given to collectors, the state government had also given additional powers for a period of time. For instance, shince last year the DoP has empowered the collector to slap minor penalties against the PHED officers and engineers for dereliction of duties while managing the drinking water requirements to the people.

Amendments

• If deemed disobedience, a collector can halt three salary increments for the erring officer
• The officer can, however, appeal the decision with the appropriate authority.