National
Ministry denies gender bias
By J. Venkatesan
NEW DELHI, DEC.17. The Union Law Ministry has refuted the allegation of Mrs. Sushma Jain, Joint Secretary in the Legislative Department, that she was not considered for promotion to the post of Additional Secretary due to gender discrimination. Referring to her allegations, the Government said Mrs. Jain was not considered for promotion as she was not a member of the Indian Legal Service (ILS) and that she could not claim to be a Member of the ILS on the basis of her deputation as Joint Secretary in the Legislative Department.
Moreover, the posts of Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Legal Affairs Department ``are not promotion posts and do not fall in the cadre of ILS and appointments to these posts are to be made by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments which has the sole discretion in making such appointments''.
Mrs. Jain (at present posted to the Official Languages Wing (OLW) of the Legislative Department) had claimed that she was the only Joint Secretary with 25 years of experience in `group A' service in the department but she was not considered for appointment as Additional Secretary.
On this the Government said throughout her career she had worked in the OLW and after her deputation was over, she was reverted back to the OLW.
On the tribunal's order that Mrs. Jain should have been considered for promotion, the Government said the tribunal had failed to consider the fact that a deputationist could not find a place in the seniority list of that grade along with officers appointed on regular basis unless such deputation was followed by absorption.
However, Mrs. Jain has maintained that the post of Additional Secretary ``is ex-cadre post and it does not belong to any cadre''. According to her, as per the order of the Ministry of Personnel, any eligible officer of the ILS and also other legal experts from outside the service could be considered for the post and she fulfilled this criterion.
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