The government of India on Wednesday said that “no new rules” have been notified by the J&K administration under which employees can be dismissed from service if they are found to be “sympathetic” to people accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA).
“The Government of Jammu & Kashmir has not notified any new rules in this regard,” Minister Of State In the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai said while responding to a written query in Rajya Sabha on whether the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration has notified new rules under which employees can be dismissed from service if they or their family members are found to be “sympathetic” to people accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA).
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However, the minister said, the government of Jammu and Kashmir has issued instructions about mandatory vigilance clearance for government employees for obtaining passports in accordance with the instructions of the central government”s Department of Personnel and Training.
In January this year, J-K Government has asked passport authorities as well as verifying agencies not to insist on the latest vigilance clearance from its employees, underlining that it causes “unnecessary delay and unwarranted inconvenience” in the issuance of the passport.
“Attention of Administrative Departments/Heads of Departments/Passport issuing/verifying authorities is invited towards Circular No. 35-JK(GAD) of 2021 Dated 16.09.2021, wherein it has been made mandatory to seek the latest vigilance status of a Government employee applying for issuance of a passport,” reads a circular.
“These instructions have been notified in consonance with the guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, Department of Personnel & Training, Government of India vide Office Memorandum on 18th February 2020.”
“However, instances have come into the notice of the Government that in view of the aforementioned circular instructions, the Passport issuing authority as well as verifying agencies are also insisting for obtaining latest vigilance clearance in respect of the Government employees before initiating the verification process, which causes unnecessary delay and unwarranted inconvenience in the issuance of Passport to the applicants, which is/was, however, not the underlying intention of the instructions,” the circular issued by the government reads.
“With a view to remove the ambiguity involved, if any, at any level, it is further clarified that once the prior intimation (PI) given by the applicant (government employee) in Annexure-H is duly acknowledged by the Controlling/Administrative Authority/Employer in favour of such employee OR the prescribed annexure/certificate is issued in favour of such employee by his/her Controlling/Administrative Authority/Employer, it shall be presumed that the concerned department has obtained the prior vigilance status in respect of the intending applicant and the Passport issuing authority/verifying agencies (CID/Police) shall not separately insist for seeking vigilance clearance/status.”