Bhubaneswar: Odisha government officers who fail to submit their annual property declaration will not be eligible for promotion, warned the State government while issuing a strict administrative directive recently.
The General Administration and Public Grievance (GA&PG) Department in a memorandum said, “Detailed provisions have been laid down under the Odisha Civil Services (Criteria for Promotion) Rules, 1992 which stipulates that selection for promotion shall be made on the basis of merit and suitability in all respects, with due regard to seniority. Further, Rule 21(4) of the Odisha Government Servants’ Conduct (Amendment) Rules, 2021 prescribes that up-to-date filing of property returns shall be a mandatory prerequisite for promotion.”
“However, despite the above clear Rules provisions, various Administrative Departments have sought clarification regarding the procedure to be followed in cases where officers within the zone of consideration have not submitted their up-to-date property return at the time of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting,” it added.
It further said that after careful examination of the relevant rules and provisions, the Government hereby issues the following clarifications:
- As per the Odisha Civil Services (Criteria for Promotion) Rules, 1992, selection for promotion shall be made based on merit and suitability in all respects with due regard to seniority. Accordingly, any Government employee who has not submitted the up-to-date property return at the time of DPC shall be treated as ‘not suitable’ for promotion in that DPC.
- The DPC shall proceed to fill up the available vacancies based on eligibility and suitability of the employees who have complied with the property return requirements. No vacancy shall be kept unfilled or reserved for consideration of promotion of employees who failed to submit up-to-date property returns.
- If any defaulting employee submits the required property retum after the DPC within a grace period allowed by the Government, and is found otherwise suitable for promotion, his/her promotion may be considered in the subsequent DPC. He/she may be granted notional promotion from the date on which his/her junior was promoted and his Seniority shall be maintained.