Dear Office bearers of CHQ and All circle Secretaries & Active members,

Namaste.

This is regarding the present situation prevailing in respect of the Group A cadre review and its implementation.

1)As you all aware that the Group A cadre restructuring has already been approved by the cabinet inspite of our sincere efforts at all levels. A committee has been formulated to implement the cadre review of Gr A officers. They have to find which 112 posts of STS are to be abolished and which 21 JTS posts are to be created. The CHQ has give a letter to that committee also to consider our views.

2)Some of our members felt that legal proceedings against the approval have to be made. In this regard GS and President met some of the lawyers in New Delhi with all copies of letters and enquired about filing a case. They categorically told that there must be an affected person to challenge an impugned order and then the Association can implead its name. As such the scope of filing a case either in the CAT or High Court ruled out because our arguments will be only on assumptive and hypothetical statements which cannot stand.

3)In the meanwhile it is ascertained that a WP has been filed by the ITS officers for revoking the contempt petititon they filed in CAT Hyderabad. The MA has been allowed in the high court of Hyderabad but there are no interim stay etc because the ITS officers association have not demanded that one. Their earlier plea in the CAT was that their cadre review should be done prior to P&TAFS cadre review and they should be designated as executive authorities to the CCA units instead of the officers from IPTAFS cadre.

4)All possible channels have been tapped by CHQ various times( Member(F), Secretary (T), Cabinet Secretary, MOC, ) Even a letter from a sitting Loksabha MP was sent to MOC, and Prime Minister office.

5)DUE TO THE ABOVE , ON ABOLITION OF `112 POSTS IN STSOUR PROMOTIONAL AVENUES ARE NARROWED. THE METHOD OF GIVING ADHOC PROMOTIONS TO THE SENIORMOST AOs HAS BEEN STOPPED ONCE FOR ALL ON THE PLEA THAT THE UPSC STRONGLY OBJECTED FOR LEVEL JUMPING PROMOTIONS AND THIS IS NOT BEING GIVEN IN ANY OTHER MINISTRY. FOR JTS ONLY THERE WILL BE PROMOTIONS IN FUTURE. ONLY THOSE OFFICIALS IN JTS (REGULAR) WILL GET THE CHANCE TO BECOME STS ADHOC/OFFICIATING.

6)Under the above circumstances in order to try another time, a draft letter addressed to cabinet secretary is enclosed with this mail. All the circle associations are requested to do the following.

a)In your circle letter head print the letter addressed to the cabinet secretary and enclose all the attachments of the CHQ now sent . THIS LETTER SHOULD BE SENT THROUGH PROPER CHANNEL (ie) through CCA/DAP as the case may be.

b)In addition to the above the letter with all enclosures are to be sent by speed post separately to the cabinet secretary as advance copy.

c)Very important thing to be done is don’t mark “ the copy to” in the original letter. But you are requested to write another letter to the respective authorities by name and attach the copy that is addressed to the cabinet secretary with all its enclosures. This should also be sent as advance copy by speed post. As such you are supposed to send 10 speed post letters that too by name ( for example the letter to MOF should be in the name of Hon”bleArunJaitley etc)

This is a final exercise that we can do atleast to attract attention on our issue by the highest authorities. ALL CIRCLE SECRETARIES ARE REQUESTED TO DO THIS EXERCISE IMMEDIATELY

YOURS FRATERNALLY

(M.NESARAJ SELVAM)

To,

Shri.Pradeep Kumar Sinha

Cabinet Secretary, Cabinet secretariat,

Rashtrapathibhawan, New Delhi 110 005

Sub: Request for restoration of posts reduced in the first P&TAFS GrA cadre review reg.

Respected sir,

Most respectfully, we are indeed sorry to trouble you for a small but important matter concerning the future of Gr ‘B’ and promotee Group ‘A’ officers of Postal and Telecom Accounts wings consequent upon the first cadre review of IP&TAFS - Group A.

2.In this context we wish to put forth the following facts for kind consideration and needful action:-

(i)P&T Accounts and Finance Officers Association, representing Gr ‘B’ and promotee Group ‘A’ officers of Postal and Telecom Accounts wings, is stakeholder as our members are feeder cadre for the JTS/STS level posts in IP&T Accounts & Finance Service classified as “Group A Organized Accounts Service”.

(ii)Inspite of our repeated requests to consider the consequences of ex-parte cadre review, our view point seems to have been ignored and the cadre review has been approved with drastic reduction in STS level posts. The copies of letters which were written by our CHQ to the authorities in this regard are enclosed for reference.

(iii)The Circle Association has considered the impact of the aforesaid irrational cadre review and is constrained to place on record the anguish being developed in the minds of IP&TAFS Group ‘B’ officers due to the unilateral and arbitrary reduction of 112 functional STS grade posts. The impacts on Group B cadre in case of overall reduction in sanctioned strength are as under:-

  • Group B Officers presently working in the grade of STS on adhoc/officiating basis against the present sanctioned strength will get reverted due to reduction in the number of STS posts from 198 to 86.
  • The above will have a cascading effect so that the promotion to the AO/Sr AO grades will get blocked.
  • Around 300 officers who have completed more than 20 years of service as AAO/AO/Sr AO and eligible for JTS promotion as per the extant rules may not get the promotion in the next four-five years and will retire.
  • Reversion of the officers from the officiating/ADHOC will have an impact on their pay/pension benefits and will result in financial losses. It is noteworthy that eliminating the chances to work on higher posts (regular/adhoc/officiating basis) will not only cause financial loss to the eligible officers but also create de-motivation/dissatisfaction factor thereby affecting the progress of official work.

3. We would like to reiterate that there is functional requirement for retention of STS posts in the cadre review of IP&TAFS officers as these are norm based posts and were created on the basis of work study & thorough review. Most of the mandated works, viz compilation of Accounts, GPF, Pension sanction and disbursement, revenue collection, PAO function, Internal check and Finance advise etc., are operational in nature and almost finalized/settled at the level of Sr.Accounts officers/JTS/STS.

4.The reduction in the grade of STS will not only destroy established structure created at the time of bifurcation from C&AG, but also bring a setback for the system in managing the large workload which is already suffering with huge shortage of manpower. The work of finance & accounts wing was bifurcated and delegated to the Organized Accounts Cadre during 1976 with a view for improved financial management and prudent expenditure control. This can be attained only with officials of proven efficiency. But the things are going in the opposite direction and with the reduction of operational & functional posts of STS level, erosion of revenue and pilferage of Govt funds are inevitable

5.Under the above circumstances, there is dire need to re-visit the issue as the methodology adopted in the instant Cadre Review is neither in the interest of the organization / Government nor it is beneficial and acceptable to Gr ‘B’ and promotee Group ‘A’ officers of Postal and Telecom Accounts wing.

6.The Association, therefore, requests your good self to issue appropriate directives for maintaining the status quo of the sanctioned posts in JTS and STS level. In case it is not found possible to accede to our request of maintaining status quo, we would be left with no other option but to request your goodself to issue orders for vertical separation of IP&TFS Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ cadres by abolishing the status of “Organized Accounts Service” to enable our members to explore the possibility of career progression in their respective Departments, viz: Department of Telecom and Department of Posts.

Thanking you sir,

(------)

Circle Secretary/President

------Circle

Mobile:

Email:

Enclosed: As above

Copy with request for kind intervention and recommending the case to the competent authority in the overall interest of Group ‘B’ officers of Accounts wings of DOP & DOT to the followings:-

(Not on original and copy to should also be ‘By Name’)

a)Hon”ble Minister for communication New delhi

b)Hon”ble Minister for Finance New Delhi

c)Hon”ble minister for DOPT

d)C&AG of India

e)Secretary Department of Telecom

f)Secretary Department of Posts

g)Secretary DOPT

h)Secretary Ministry of Finance

i)Member (F) dot Sanchar Bhavan.

j)Secretary General CCGGOO

k)GS, P&T Accounts and Finance Officers Association