The Hindu : Panel issues orders for Secretariat staff

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 16, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Panel issues orders for Secretariat staff

By S. Vydhianathan and A. Subramani

CHENNAI NOV. 15. The panel of former Madras High Court judges, which heard representations by employees dismissed or suspended, under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act, in the wake of the July strike, has issued orders for Secretariat and Chennai district staff.

Individual orders, signed by the respective judge, have already been despatched to the Government for distribution, according to panel sources. It will take at least four more weeks for the committee to complete the cases of employees from other districts. The services of three more stenographers have been sanctioned for the panel to prepare orders expeditiously. With these, the number of stenos at its disposal has gone up to six, and dictation is expected to start on Monday. Most of the orders already sent were prepared by the former judges in the first month of the hearing, when they processed the representations of employees belonging to the Secretariat and Chennai district, said the sources.

`Order, not report'

Stressing that it was an "order" and not a "report", the sources said that as per the Supreme Court directive the Government was bound to give effect to it. Ruling out any scope for governmental interference at this stage, they said the heads of departments needed only to distribute the orders. However, the government servants, if aggrieved, could appeal either to the State Administrative Tribunal or the High Court.

The sources indicated that the panel had disposed of the representations based on the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Government Employees Conduct Rules, especially Rule 22. The former judges imposed varying degrees of "punishment", taking into consideration the explanation offered by the employees for their absence on July 2 and 3, proof submitted thereof, the counter filed by the department and the penal provisions enumerated in the Conduct Rules.

Anxiety prevailed among the suspended/dismissed employees following reports that the committee had forwarded its orders to the Government.

Affected employees working in offices in neighbouring districts made a beeline for the Secretariat this morning. But they were disappointed when officials informed them that the orders for the Secretariat staff alone had been submitted to the Personnel and Administration Reforms Secretary.

The officials said the orders would be handed over to the Chief Minister, who, in turn, would place them before the Cabinet for a final decision. The process would take at least 15 days. So the employees could know their fate only by the last week of this month. Those who were cleared by the committee might have to join by the first week of December.

Meanwhile, various employees' associations, including the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Staff Association, appealed to the Chief Minister to take an early decision. They said the affected employees had been suffering mental agony for the last four months and that they had not received salary. The families were in serious trouble in many cases. They had no moral strength to wait anymore. They hoped that the Chief Minister would be considerate and provide early relief.

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