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Journalism of Courage
The transfer of 463 Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officers by the Department of Telecom in November 2011 from BSNL is against government policy,according to the Ministry of Personnel,Public Grievance and Pensions. In a letter to DoT,the ministry noted that since the transfer of officers from DoT to BSNL was taken after a Cabinet decision,reinstating them also needed the Cabinets approval.
It is proposed that the DoT moves suitable proposal in consultation with the Ministry of Finance,Department of Expenditure and Department of Personnel and Training to regularise the acts committed so far,and overcome the constraints as per extant provisions by seeking approval of the Cabinet,and reissue separately the option to en masse transferred officials, the personnel ministry said in the letter.
According to a senior ITS officer,the 463 officials repatriated to DoT from BSNL are attached to the departments Telecom Engineering Centre since December last year,but are yet to be deployed fully.
ITSA,an association of ITS officers had asked DoT to seek clarification from the Ministry of Personnel whether the offer of pension benefits actually accrue to officials who decide to resign from government service and join BSNL.
DoT Secretary R Chandrashekhar,however,defended the transfer. We do not need Cabinet approval for transferring officers. It is required only for transfer of posts. The Central Administrative Tribunal has said that officials who did not opt for BSNL have to be repatriated to DoT.
