9-Sep-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, DoPT deputation rules have been relaxed to encourage IAS and other All India Service Officers as well as officers of Central Services to get posted in J&K

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today informed that Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) deputation rules have been relaxed to encourage IAS and other All India Service Officers as well as officers of Central Services to get posted in J&K.

Briefing the media about several steps taken to address the shortage of officers in the newly created UT, Dr Jitendra Singh said, due to this relaxation, 22 officers belonging to various services and different cadres have been posted in Jammu & Kashmir at various levels at a crucial time.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, DoPT has played a major role in facilitating induction of Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Services Officers into IAS by coordinating with UT of J&K, Ministry of Home Affairs and UPSC. As a result recently 16 officers from JKAS have been inducted into IAS and another 8 such vacancies will be filled up shortly giving opportunities to the JKAS officers to become part of prestigious IAS service after a long gap of 12 years.

The Minister also added that Mid-Career Training of JKAS officers of various seniority was carried out in collaboration with LBSNAA and this has provided a new level of exposure to the JKAS Officers and more than 200 offices.

Dr Jitendra Singh also listed some initiatives by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, Government of India like special concessions/incentives to the Central Government employees working in Kashmir Valley in attached and subordinate offices or PSUs falling under control of Central Government. He said, they have been extended special concessions for a period of 3 years w.e.f. 1st August, 2021 and the incentives include an additional house rent allowance, composite transfer grant, per diem allowance, incentive for period of temporary duty, messing allowance, facility to draw pension at place of settlement in relaxation of relevant provisions.

The Minister also informed that the facility for retention of general pool accommodation available to officers who have served in central government has also been extended to officers posted in Jammu and Kashmir on the pattern of north east States.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, in view of home LTC, it can be availed to visit J&K and Ladakh for which guidelines have been notified by DoPT and this will enhance tourism to Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and also provide an opportunity to all central government employees to visit J&K and Ladakh.

Apart from the above measures, Dr Jitendra Singh said, three National Conferences on Good Governance were held in J&K covering hundreds of J&K employees. He said, best practices from J&K and all over the country were showcased and about 800 J&K government officers were trained on effective handling of public grievances.

Dr Jitendra Singh also informed that the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) in Ministry of Personnel had helped the J&K government to switch over to online functioning, as a result of which the UT exchequer would save over Rs 200 cr incurred in transport of records etc. during Durbar move.

The Minister also informed that the District Good Governance Index was launched from J&K for bringing about healthy competition between districts to achieve goal of saturation of citizen services and improving developmental activities in districts. Moreover, 4 policy papers related to good governance were sponsored in J&K encouraging new models for development in the challenging scenario of J&K.

The Minister said, the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives high priority to J&K and there is no dearth of support forthcoming, as far as the Centre is concerned.

26-Oct-2020: DoPT reforms regarding Child Care Leave

While briefing about some of the major reforms brought by Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) under the Modi government, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said today that the male employees of the government are also now entitled to Child Care Leave.

However, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the provision and privilege of Child Care Leave (CCL) will be available only for those male employees who happen to be “single male parent”, which may include male employees who are widowers or divorcees or even unmarried and may therefore, be expected to take up the responsibility of child care as a single - handed parent.

Describing it as a path-breaking and progressive reform to bring ease of living for government servants, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the orders regarding this had been issued quite some time back but somehow did not receive enough circulation in the public.

In a further relaxation to this provision, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that an employee on Child Care Leave may now leave the head quarter with the prior approval of Competent Authority. In addition, the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) may be availed by the employee even if he is on Child Care Leave. Elaborating further, he informed that Child Care Leave can be granted at 100% of leave salary for the first 365 days and 80% of leave salary for the next 365 days.

Based on the inputs over a period of time, Dr Jitendra Singh said, another welfare measure introduced in this regard is that in case of a disabled child, the condition of availing Child Care Leave up to the age of 22 years of the child has been removed and now Child Care Leave can be availed by a government servant for a disabled child of any age.

With the personal intervention and indulgence of Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi and his special emphasis on governance reforms, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it has been possible to make several out-of-box decisions in the DoPT over the last six years. Basic purpose behind all these decisions has always been to enable a government employee to contribute to the maximum of his potential, although at the same time there will be no leniency or tolerance toward corruption or non-performance, he said.

8-Apr-2020: DoPT to empower Front Line COVID-19 Warriors with first of its kind iGOT e-learning Platform

The Department of Personnel and Training has announced the launch of a learning platform (https://igot.gov.in) to combat COVID 19 for all front-line workers to equip them with the training and updates in coping with Pandemic.  Appropriate training will also prepare them for the subsequent stages of the pandemic. By giving COVID 19 training to other potential second line workforce, India will be better prepared for the emergent situations.

The target group is Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Hygiene Workers, Technicians, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANMs), Central & State Govt. Officers, Civil Defence Officials, various Police Organisations, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme (NSS), Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Bharat Scouts & Guides (BSG) and other volunteers. 

The platform delivers curated, role-specific content, to each learner at his place of work or home and to any device of his choice. iGOT platform is designed to population scale, and will provide training to around 1.50 crore workers and volunteers in the coming weeks. To begin with nine (9) courses on iGOT have been launched on topics like Basics of COVID, ICU Care and Ventilation Management, Clinical Management, Infection Prevention through PPE, Infection Control and Prevention, Quarantine and Isolation, Laboratory Sample Collection and Testing, Management of COVID 19 Cases, COVID 19 Training.

Through its customized approach COVID-WARRIORS can learn about critical areas from this one-stop source and respond to the prevailing and emergent situations, by keeping themselves updated in a real-time manner. The platform is well equipped to cater the demands of unlimited requests of learning at any time anywhere. The platform can be accessed by following an easy to use manual for desktop and mobile versions, thereby making it accessible for all.

The platform reflects the vision of Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to ‘care for those who serve the nation’ and boost their morale. As a critical weapon in the arsenal of all front line COVID-19 healthcare warriors, their updated knowledge and capacity, will help them and our nation win the battle against COVID-19 Pandemic.

A version of iGOT fitted to these needs has been launched with the following URL link (https://igot.gov.in). The first version of the platform is available to use with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, and subsequent versions will support other browsers.