Compliance of rules and regulations by the Government officials

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
(DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)
LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. 117
(TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.02.2022)

COMPLIANCE OF RULES

*117. SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has received requests from public representatives to ensure compliance of rules and regulations by the Government officials/ employees in the interest of the public and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether penal action is taken against those Government officials/employees who disobey and dent the image of the Government by not implementing the rules and regulations properly and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether provisions have been made in the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964 to debar them from pension and other facilities and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the States have also been/are proposed to be instructed to make provision in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government so far to root out the corruption?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 117 FOR ANSWER ON 09.02.2022 BY SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY REGARDING COMPLIANCE OF RULES

(a) to (c): Representations received from public representatives on various issues are dealt by the concerned administrative Ministry/Department as per Allocation of Business Rules, 1961. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has issued guidelines concerning official dealings between Administration and Members of Parliament (MPs) and State Legislatures and reiterated the same from time to time. These guidelines, inter-alia, provide for attending to communications received from MPs promptly and for showing courtesy and consideration to MPs and State Legislatures. It has also been emphasized that violation of these guidelines would be viewed seriously and render them liable for disciplinary action under the relevant Rules e.g. Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, All India Services (Disciplinary and Appeal) Rules, 1969, CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 or All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, which could result in imposition of penalties or withholding or withdrawing of pension or gratuity.

(d): The State Government employees are governed by the rules framed by the respective State Legislature. The Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs have been advised time and again to bring the aforesaid guidelines concerning official dealings between Administration and Members of Parliament (MPs) and State Legislatures, as indicated in answer at (a) to (c) above, to the notice of their employees for compliance.

(e): The Central Government, in pursuance of its commitment to “Zero Tolerance Against Corruption”, has taken following measures to promote accountability and efficiency by encouraging greater transparency, introducing simplified procedures and reducing scope for discretion to combat corruption, which, inter alia, include:

i. Systemic improvements and reforms to provide transparent, citizen-friendly services to root out corruption by disbursement of welfare benefits directly to the citizens under various schemes of the Government through the Direct Benefit Transfer initiative; implementation of e-Tendering in public procurements; introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedure and systems; and introduction of Government procurement through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

ii. Amendment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on 26.07.2018 criminalizing the act of giving bribes.

iii. Operationalisation of the institution of Lokpal with the statutory mandate to directly receive and process complaints as regards alleged offences against public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

iv. Invocation of FR-56(j) and AIS (DCRB) Rules, 1958 for retiring officials from service in public interest whose performance, after review, is found unsatisfactory and/or with doubtful integrity.

v. Preventive vigilance measures taken by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) as under :-

(a) Adoption of Integrity Pact by all the organizations in major procurement activities;

(b) Advising Centralized Training Institutes to include modules on preventive vigilance;

(c) Dissemination of Good Practices by publishing compilations of booklets on preventive vigilance;

(d) Advising Government Organizations, Public Sector Enterprises and Public Sector Banks to develop Standard Operating Procedures to prevent excessive use of discretionary powers at all levels;

(e) Inculcating ethical behaviors among employees and the Public through Vigilance Awareness Weeks, particularly amongst students and youth;

(f) Training, capacity building and skill upgradation of Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) and management of the Departments / Organizations;

(g) Scrutiny of Audit Reports by CVOs;

(h) Continuous revision of manuals on important areas such as contracts, procurement, recruitment etc.

(i) Continuous revision of processes and systems to dovetail the systems with the latest available technology; and

(j) Advising organizations to prepare Asset Registers in digital form for better asset management.

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