Should an employee’s ST status be verified at each promotion?
10 Oct, 2012
Background
The appellant was advised by his office for verification of his Schedule Tribe (ST) status not only at the time of entry into the service but also at the time of his promotion. He filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) seeking to know if his office was right in demanding such verification again and again. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant that as per the circular issued by the Central Government such verification at each upturn of an employee was necessary. He also enclosed a copy of the relevant circular.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that it was not very clear why the authorities should insist on verifying the ST status again and again. The respondent clarified that there was no specific circular or office memorandum outlining the justification for seeking such verification at each upturn of the employee. The respondent further explained that it could be because the ST status of an employee could change in case the tribute to which the concerned employee belonged stood de-notified in-between and so there was need to get the status verified each time the employee concerned was promoted.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that it would be useful to refer to the file in which the circular requiring verification at each upturn had been issued. The Commission directed that the copy of file noting based on which the above requirement had been notified should be sent to the appellant.
Citation: Mr. S Muruga Vallavan v. Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in File No. CIC/SM/A/2011/002711
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/717
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission