TLI Staff
New Delhi: In its bid to weed out corrupt officers from service, Modi government has force-retired 170 officers in the last two years.
Tainted tax officers comprise bulk of those shown the door before they could complete their service.
“As per the information/data provided by different Ministries/Departments/Cadre Controlling Authorities (CCAs), provisions of FR 56(J)/similar provisions have been invoked against 90 Group-A officers and 80 Group-B officers in last two years,” said Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
The Rule 56(J) of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 provides for periodic performance review of government servants in order to decide their continuity in the service.
While the rules have been in place for decades, the previous governments rarely used this provision. The Modi government has, however, not hesitated to invoke the provisions at regular intervals.
The government had sacked a few dozens of dozens of tax officers in 2019 on various charges of corruption and malpractices. The extreme measure though slowed down in the following year.
While total number of Group A and Group B officers compulsorily retired was 149 in 2019, it fell sharply to 21 in 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort had once said that some black sheep in the tax administration may have misused their powers and harassed taxpayers either by targeting honest assessees or taking excessive action for minor or procedural violations.
The government has been cracking the whip on errant officials but often it is accused of being selective in its action.