395 corrupt officers, non-performers prematurely retired in 8 years: Govt

New Delhi: As many as 395 non-performing and corrupt Central government officers were prematurely retired from the service between July 2014 and June 2022 by the governemt, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

"Government is vested with the absolute power to pre-maturely retire government servants in public interest by invoking the provisions of respective service rules/Fundamental Rule 56 (j)," Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

As per the data uploaded by the different ministries, departments and cadre-controlling authorities (CCAs) on the Department of Personnel & Training's probity portal, between July 2014 to June 2022 (as on 19.07.2022), FR 56(j)/similar provisions have been invoked against a total number of 395 officers, he said.

This included 203 Group-A and 192 Group- B officers, he said.

The provisions allow the government to retire in public interest an allegedly corrupt or non-performer government officer.

In the matter of proven cases of grave misconduct, any penalty including removal or dismissal from service, as specified in the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, may be imposed on the Central government employees to whom these rules are applicable, the minister said.