Animal husbandry department to amend service rules

TOP POSTS LYING VACANT Presently, around 99% top posts of the department are lying vacant; even the post of the department director is filled on deputation basis

After failing to find its existing employees eligible for the ranks of deputy director, joint director and director in the past six years, the animal husbandry department of Punjab is now mulling over counting the total length of service of an employee to consider promotion of the officers to top ranks.

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For this, the department is making an amendment in its existing service rules of 2014. The department has already received an approval from the finance and personal department for the proposal of making amendments in the service rules.

According to the proposal, a copy of which is with HT, an officer with experience of 28 years in service is eligible for the rank of director. Similarly, an officer having with 26 years experience is eligible for the post of joint director.

And, a senior veterinary officer with 24 years of experience in service, will be eligible for the rank of deputy director.

An official of the department, pleading anonymity, said, “The amendment in service rules is in the final stage. It has already been cleared by the personal and financial department of Punjab. Now, the file is awaiting the approval of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his cabinet.”

At present, the department’s service rules makes it mandatory for senior veterinary officers to have minimum five-year experience and deputy directors and join directors to have three-year experience on their existing post to get promotion to an upper rank.

Presently, around 99% top posts of the Punjab animal husbandry department are lying vacant since past few years. The post of the director is also filled on deputation from Haryana.

An official said, “In the last six years, none of the senior veterinary officers have been able to get a promotion to the post of deputy director rank as they crossed the retirement age before fulfilling the criteria of having five-year experience in their existing rank.”

Inderjeet Singh, director of the animal husbandry department, has confirmed the development. “We have made this proposal to fill vacant posts in the department. We are waiting for the proposal to get approval from the state government. I hope that it will happen soon so that we can fill the posts at the earliest,” he said.