Relieving of Railway employees in time after order for transfer in cases of request transfer – RBE 203/2019

 

 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
(MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS)
(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBE 203/2019

No.E(NG)I/2019/PM 2118 cc                               New Delhi, dated November Dt. 26.11.2019

The General Managers
All Zonal Railways &
Production Units.
(as per standard mailing list)

Sub: Relieving of Railway employees in time after order for transfer in cases of request transfer.

As the Railway administrations are aware, instructions already exist which provide that in cases of request transfer, the requests should be dealt with in an organized and expeditious manner so that there is no occasion for any grievance in the mind of the staff in regard to the handling of their request.

It has been observed that despite the existence of such instructions, due to administrative exigencies, it sometimes becomes difficult to relieve the transferred employee within a reasonable time, which results in loss of seniority to the employee in his new place of posting. The loss is even greater when he goes to posts one grade below, and new recruits from subsequent batches join before him.

The loss in seniority in such cases .resulting from delayed relieving of the employee often leads to litigation, and strictures passed by Hon’ble Courts. In one such case recently, the Hon’ble CAT/Chennai in OA No.75112019 and other similar OAs, vide their common order dated 05.07.2019, inter-alia observed as under:-
Since it is submitted by the counsel for the applicants that IREC is silent on the above issue and accordingly there is a void in this regard in the policy, we deem it appropriate to direct the first respondent to consider the concern raised in the OAs as a policy issue and take an appropriate decision
on whether and if so, how the interests of such transferred employees should be protected in regard to
their seniority at least from the date from which they were approved for IR T, if they could not be relieved soon thereafter in public interest. Such policy decision may be taken and orders issued within
a period of six months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. “

The matter has accordingly been considered in the Board. While it may not be desirable/feasible to assign seniority to transferred employee in the new unit from the date of approval of the transfer, when the employee is still actually working in the parent unit, every effort should be made to relieve her/him at an early date. Where delay in relieving of the employee after orders are issued exceeds/is likely to exceed 3 months, the case should be put up by Sr.DPO/WPO to DRM/CWM as the case may be giving specific reasons for the delay and likely date of relief.

Please acknowledge receipt.

Jt. Director Estt.(N)I
Railway Board