In line with his perform or perish policy as well as zero tolerance for corruption, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday approved the forced retirement of 10 officials of the Department of Telecom (DoT) including a joint secretary.
It is notable that this is the first time that DoT officials have been pushed into retirement under section 56 (J) under Pension Rule 48 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.
Reportedly, the Telecom Minister has approved forced retirement for 10 senior DoT personnel for doubtful integrity keeping with his zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. Among the DoT officers given forced retirement, nine were working at the Director level while one was working at the joint secretary rank.
Notably, this is not the first time that Ashwini Vaishnaw has approved the forced retirement of inefficient or corrupt officials.
In September this year, a Senior Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) official was caught napping in a meeting chaired by the Telecom Minister and was made to take voluntary retirement.
Vaishnaw had asked BSNL employees to work hard and turn things around following the announcement of the Rs 1.64 lakh crore relief package. To compete with private telcos, the minister instructed employees to abandon their “Sarkari attitude” and focus on customer satisfaction.
In August this year, Minister Vaishnaw was heard saying in an audio clip from his first meeting with the BSNL employees, that those who cannot perform can take voluntary retirement and go home.
“In this competitive industry, only your performance can save you. I want to see the results in the next 24 months, so you either perform or perish,” the Minister said.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, who also holds the Railway portfolio, has approved the forced retirement of approximately 40 railway officials for non-performance and questionable integrity, including a secretary-level officer and two special secretary-level officers.
In November it was reported that around 139 railway officers were to take voluntary retirement while 38 officers were terminated from service.
Reportedly, on November 23, two senior officials of the railways were sacked after they were caught taking bribe in two incidents. In one case an official was caught by the CBI taking bribe of Rs 5 lakh in Hyderabad. In another case, an official in Ranchi was caught taking bribe of Rs 3 lakh.
Notably, under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) employees are paid a salary equivalent to two months’ pay for each year of service remaining.
