Indian Railways alert: Employees can't do this anymore without punishment; Railway Board gets tough

Indian Railways Alert: Delaying or trying to evade transfer orders on promotion will now result in railway officers losing their seniority, the railway board has indicated. According to orders issued by the board, those using such tactics will be debarred from such promotions for a minimum of one year. A comprehensive transfer policy issued by the railways in 2015 states that the controlling officer will ensure that the officer transferred is relieved within a maximum period of one month.

However, the board said officers who are transferred from one zone or unit to the other on promotion often fail to comply with the orders within the stipulated time frame. "They do not carry out the orders within the stipulated period and try to evade or delay the process by citing one reason or the other," the board said. This, it said, causes a lot of "administrative difficulties" not only for the railway unit/zone where the officers continues to remain even after issue of transfer orders but also where he is transferred.

The board in an August 29 order has said the decision was taken to "curb the rising tendency among officers" of not complying their transfer or promotion orders. "If an officer does not comply with his/her transfer-cum-promotion within the stipulated period, it may be treated to be a refusal for promotion and may render the officer liable for debarment from such promotion for a minimum period of one year," the board has said.

The railways' order comes amidst cases of officers trying to wriggle their way out of tough or uncomfortable postings, sources said.

While all civil servants are governed by the Central Civil Services Rules, each cadre has its own set of rules for transfer and promotions within the cadre. The CCS rules stipulate the time frame in which officers need to join their new post according to the distance of the new posting to the old one.

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It carries time from immediate joining to around a month under some situations, depending on the distance between the two headquarters. Not joining within the stipulated time could lead to barring of the officer for future and foreign postings for as long as five years. Different cadres, however, have the power to enforce rules they seem fit for transfer of officers within it.