Govt staff can see boss’s secret report

Calcutta, Feb. 20: Calcutta High Court today said all central departments other than defence were bound to disclose to employees the contents of their annual confidential report on request.

The order could have far-reaching consequences as it would act as a precedent in case of state government employees as well.

The report, better known as ACR, determines the chances of government employees’ promotions and postings.

The division bench of Justices A.K. Banerjee and P. Mondal said: “Central government authorities, other than defence, are bound to communicate the contents of the ACR of an employee whenever he or she asks for it.”

The judges also said that if the ACR was not revealed to an employee, it would be a violation of “natural justice.” “If an employee has no access to his ACR, how will he rectify his errors?”

The private sector, which also conducts an annual assessment of employees, shares it with them.

A senior IAS officer said: “A subordinate should know how his seniors rate his performance. The report will still remain confidential as it will only be between the junior and the senior and not pasted on a notice board.”

The court order followed a petition by Sourin Biswas, who became a senior Geological Survey of India (GSI) chemist after 11 years of service in 1993 but was twice denied promotion thereafter because of the ACR.

In 1998, a list was drawn up on the basis of seniority for promotion to the post of assistant director. “Biswas was at No. 30, but a person listed below him was promoted while he was not. In 2007, Biswas, the No. 2, was denied promotion,” said his lawyer Smarajit Roy Chowdhury.

When Biswas enquired with his bosses why he was being left out, they said his ACR was not good enough. “When he wanted to access its contents, the authorities said it was confidential.”

Biswas first moved the Central Administrative Tribunal. After it turned down his plea, he moved the court.

The GSI’s lawyer asked the court: “How can the authorities communicate the contents of a confidential report to an employee?”

The court rejected the argument, saying employees could not improve themselves if they did not know their drawbacks.

A senior bureaucrat said that before Independence, the ACR used to be called the Confidential Character Report. “The British bosses wanted to keep track of whether employees were engaged in the Freedom Movement or where their sympathies lay.”

Courtesy : The Telegraph

No pay commission arrears to be paid before elections

Govt misses opportunity to boost demand, say consumer goods makers.

Consumer goods manufacturers, expecting to see a revival of demand from the nearly Rs 16,500 crore Pay Commission arrears for government employees, are likely to be disappointed.

More than 8.3 million central government employees and pensioners will have to wait till at least August 2009 to receive the second instalment of Sixth Pay Commission arrears.

This became clear from the Interim Budget presented last week, which has not sought Parliamentary approval in its expenditure estimates for the first four months of the next fiscal starting April 2009, said a senior finance ministry official.

“The new government will have to seek Parliament approval when they submit the budget,” said the same official.

The Rs 32,000-crore domestic consumer durables industry was betting big on the Pay Commission’s recommendations to act as an added impetus to sales. Industry observers believe the arrears would have enabled a major chunk of consumers from smaller towns and cities to go in for their first purchases, boosting the mid-market segment of the business.

“It will be a missed opportunity,” said V Ramachandran, director, sales and marketing, LG Electronics India. “Typically, disposable income goes into discretionary purchases and since the durables category tends to attract this expenditure, it would have supported growth.”

Pay Commission largesse of around Rs 11,000 crore for an estimated 4.5 million government employees was widely regarded as the key reason for a 30-35 per cent boost in festive season consumer electronic sales last year, from a 7-10 per cent average growth for the year. In fact, it was consumer durables that drove industrial growth of 4.8 per cent in September.

Companies have been clamouring for a fiscal stimulus package from the government, as the domestic demand has also been falling sharply in the past few months.

India’s factory index reported a dip in both consumer durables (like refrigerator, television sets) and consumer non-durables (like toothpaste, soaps) in December 2008, the latest month for which data are available.

The government is estimating a total spend of Rs 47,500 crore for implementing the Sixth Pay Commission in the current and next financial year. Around Rs 27,000 crore is towards payment of arrears, as the implementation is from 2006.

Courtesy : Business Standard