“Though the office of the commissioner inquiries was established long back during the reign of popular governments in the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state but it never ever functioned the way it should have functioned.”
The revival of the office of the Commissioner Inquires if given powers to firmly deal with the complaints of misconduct against delinquent officers and officials as announced by Chief Secretary Atal Duloo during a high level meeting in Jammu would obviously reduce the scope of misconduct in the Government offices where the officials usually sit over files not only for weeks but even for months together . Though the office of the commissioner inquiries was established long back during the reign of popular governments in the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state but it never ever functioned the way it should have functioned for improving the procedures even for routine disposal of files concerning public issues. Instead the popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state always used to choose only such IAS officers for the position of Commissioner Inquiries who were being selectively choosen for punishment postings. Since the intention of the incumbent Jammu & Kashmir Government to revive the office of the Commission Inquiries is to firmly deal with the complaints of misconduct by the delinquent officers and officials for the purposes of improving accountability and transparency in government offices, the decision if implemented with the intents it has been taken would ease the working in the government offices for the convenience of the people. The direction of the Chief Secretary to General Administration Department to constitute a committee of the Administrative Secretaries of Jal Shakti, Finance and General Administration Departments to oversee the scope for further improvements with the recommendations for “Delegation of Powers” and the “Transaction of Business Rules” shows the Government’s deeper interest in the functioning of the office of Commissioner Inquiries for the purposes it is being revived in Jammu & Kashmir after a gape of more than a decade now.
“As Commissioner Inquiries has to be an IAS officer of the administrative secretary rank under the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees (Conduct) Rules, 1971 in respect of J&K Government employees and under All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 in case of IAS/IPS officers, the revival of the office of the commissioner inquiries would send out a message of zero tolerance against misconduct and this way the working in the Government could be improved. A new beginning in the reviving the office of the commissioner inquiries may hopefully show some improvement in the conduct of officers and officials in the government offices. Such steps if taken with the purposes of institutional and administrative accountability would surely improve the system of governance in Jammu & Kashmir.”
While certain powers have been delegated to officers in the divisional and district offices in some departments to deal with complaints of misconduct by delinquent officers and officials in government offices, there is still scope for delegation of powers to lower levels and smoothening the transaction of business rules in some more departments for the purposes of reducing the scope of misconduct in government offices. The disciplinary authority once designated on finding a case of misconduct in any officer or official will have the powers to seek a reply from the accused after which the matter has to be forwarded to the office of the commissioner inquiries for the purposes of fast track investigation and subsequently recommendation for action. As Commissioner Inquiries has to be an IAS officer of the administrative secretary rank under the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees (Conduct) Rules, 1971 in respect of J&K Government employees and under All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 in case of IAS/IPS officers, the revival of the office of the commissioner inquiries would send out a message of zero tolerance against misconduct and this way the working in the Government could be improved. A new beginning in the reviving the office of the commissioner inquiries may hopefully show some improvement in the conduct of officers and officials in the government offices. Such steps if taken with the purposes of institutional and administrative accountability would surely improve the system of governance in Jammu & Kashmir.
