Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Employees Service Charter only on paper?

— PHOTO: RAJU V.

A visitor takes a look at the contents of the Employees Service Charter in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation office.

VIJAYAWADA: A huge board of ‘Employees Service Charter’ displayed in front of the Manager’s room greets employees of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) every day, as they pass through the corridors on the first floor of the Corporation’s main office. But, none of them appears to be interested in following the charter of duties, if its implementation is any indication.

The charter is one of the important reforms initiated by the previous Municipal Commissioner Natarajan Gulzar. In a circular on March 19, 2008, he observed that delivery of various benefits for which the employees of the Corporation were entitled was being delayed either ‘inadvertently or deliberately to satisfy certain illegal demands’ of the higher level staff and officers.

The circular laid down a set of rules for transparency and accountability among officials and the staff. For example, earned leave, medical leave and half-pay leave will have to be sanctioned within three days of receiving the application, failing which Rs.25 per each day delayed will be levied on the official concerned. If a suspended employee is not reinstated within 24 hours of the Commissioner passing the reinstatement order, a fine of Rs.100 will be levied for every day. Despite these guidelines, heads of various departments have not shown any interest in its implementation in the last four months. With no registers being maintained to track its implementation, there is no way to find out whether the objectives of the charter have been met until now. This fact came to light recently when Municipal Commissioner P. S. Pradyumna reviewed its implementation, sources say.

The order issued by Mr. Gulzar clearly and emphatically said it was the responsibility of the superintendent or manager concerned to recover penal amount from the staff and the officials who fail to discharge their duties within the stipulated time. But, there has not been a single instance of recovery of penalty from any erring official and payment of the same to the employee, who has not been rendered prompt service, sources say.

The clerical staff responsible for clearance of files pertaining to service matters are not interested in maintaining the registers, as 50 per cent of the penalty has to be borne by the clerk concerned. On the other hand, even the employees are not keen on the implementation of the charter.

The employees are in ‘no mood to take on their officers’ for a small penalty. They feel that asking for penalty is nothing but inviting trouble, a senior official explains.

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