In Tamil Nadu, the promotion of revenue department officials has caused more than 200 officials to be demoted due to a recent announcement that prioritizes those who have completed their degree. The Tamil Nadu government has decided to implement a decree from 1995, which decrees that priority should be given to those who have completed their graduation while promoting revenue officials in Tamil Nadu. Revenue Assistants for the Revenue Department are selected through the Batch 2 Exams conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, and the basic educational qualification for the job is graduation. Junior Assistants selected through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Block 4 Examinations with a 10th standard education qualification become Revenue Assistants through promotion. Cases against the order were dismissed in 2009, and in September of last year, the Supreme Court ordered the immediate implementation of the Tamil Nadu Ordinance.
When the Tamil Nadu Ordinance is implemented, those who were promoted in the interim period and held posts like District Revenue Officer (DRO), Revenue Divisional Officer (RTO), Vattakshiar, and were selected through Block 4 examinations with an educational qualification of 10th standard will be demoted. More than 200 officers across the state may be demoted. Although the order to give priority in promotion to directly appointed Revenue Assistants is correct, implementing this decree after 28 years may have two types of impacts.
First, people who are demoted back to their previous job will be affected psychologically, which can reduce their efficiency. Secondly, the District Revenue Officer and the Revenue Divisional Officer have the powers of Administrative Judge. Those promoted to these positions would have tried and adjudicated many administrative cases, as well as ordered criminal action against many. When the Tamil Nadu Government Ordinance is implemented, judgments and orders issued by those when they were in that job are in question.
To prevent these confusions, the Tamil Nadu government should find an amicable solution without harming either side. A smooth solution could be to implement the 1995 Ordinance not from the date of its promulgation but from the date the Supreme Court ruled that the Ordinance would go into effect. The officers selected through Batch 4 who have been promoted so far can continue in their existing posts without being demoted, and the judgments and orders passed by them in the past shall continue to be valid. The 1995 Ordinance should be given whatever promotion and allowances revenue assistants selected through the Block II examination who are eligible for graduation would have got if they were implemented in the same year, to prevent any adverse effects on them. There are 31 District Revenue Officer posts and 117 Revenue Divisional Officer posts vacant in the revenue department of the Tamil Nadu government alone, so there will be no problem in doing this. Ramadas, who gave the statement, requests the Tamil Nadu government to take action promptly, as the work of the revenue department will also be carried out properly.
Chennai: In Tamil Nadu, the announcement that priority should be given to those who have completed their degree in the promotion of revenue department officials has resulted in the demotion of more than 200 revenue department officials..
In a statement issued by him today, he said: “As the Tamil Nadu government has now decided to implement the decree issued a quarter of a century ago that in the promotion of revenue officials in Tamil Nadu, priority should be given to those who have completed their graduation, more than 200 revenue officials have been demoted.
This will cause great confusion in the sector. Revenue Assistants for Revenue Department in Tamil Nadu are selected through Batch 2 Exams conducted by Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. The basic educational qualification for the job is graduation. For the same job Junior Assistants selected through Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Block 4 Examinations with 10th standard education qualification become Revenue Assistants through promotion.
In the year 1995, the Tamil Nadu government issued an order that while giving promotion to those who came as revenue assistants directly and through promotion, priority should be given to those who qualified for graduation and were directly appointed through block 2 examinations. Cases against the order were dismissed in 2009.
Last September, the Supreme Court again ordered the immediate implementation of the Tamil Nadu Ordinance. When the Tamil Nadu Ordinance was implemented from the year 1995, those who were promoted in the interim period and held the posts of District Revenue Officer (DRO), Revenue Divisional Officer (RTO), Vattakshiar etc. and were selected through the Block 4 examinations with educational qualification of 10th standard. will be demoted.
It is said that more than 200 officers across the state may be demoted. There is no room for alternative opinion that the order of the Government of Tamil Nadu to give priority in promotion to those directly appointed as Revenue Assistants is correct. However, when the decree is implemented after 28 years, since 1995, two types of impacts may occur.
First, when people who have been promoted to a higher position in the interim are demoted back to their previous job, it affects them psychologically. It also reduces their efficiency. Secondly, the District Revenue Officer and the Revenue Divisional Officer have the powers of Administrative Judge.
Those promoted to these positions would have tried and adjudicated many administrative cases; They have also ordered criminal action against many. When the Tamil Nadu Government Ordinance is implemented, they will be removed from the job from that day when they were appointed, so what will happen to the judgments and orders issued by them while they were in that job? Do they go…or not? There will be confusions including;
They affect management. In such an environment, the Tamil Nadu government should find an amicable solution without harming either side. A smooth solution could be to implement the 1995 Ordinance not from the date of its promulgation, but from the date the Supreme Court ruled that the Ordinance would go into effect.
While doing so, the officers selected through Batch 4 who have been promoted so far can continue in their existing posts without being demoted. The judgments and orders passed by them in the past shall continue to be valid.
At the same time, in order to prevent any adverse effect on the Revenue Assistants selected through the Block II examination who are eligible for graduation, the 1995 Ordinance should be given whatever promotion and allowances they would have got if they had been implemented in the same year. There will be no problem in doing this as there are 31 district revenue officer posts and 117 revenue divisional officer posts vacant in the revenue department of Tamil Nadu government alone.
By this means both parties may act without complaint; I request the Tamil Nadu government to take immediate action as the work of the revenue department will also be carried out properly,” Ramadas said.