Five years of work needed to be eligible for transfers

Kolkata: The state power department will give priority to ailments justified with proper medical documents for transfers in the department. An employee would have to work in an office for at least five years to be eligible for transfer. It may be allowed after three years with total discretion on the management only if it feels the urgency.

The power department has already finalised a uniform transfer policy for the department, which will be made effective by this month. After power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay took over the charge of the power department in May 2016, he was flooded with requests of transfer. In six to seven months, the minister was sitting on about 3,500 transfer applications.

“I had instructed my principal secretary and chairman of West Bengal Power Development Corporation for forming a committee to frame a policy of uniform transfer. It has been readied and will be circulated in all our offices by this month,” Mr Chattopadhyay said.

Elaborating on the transfer policy, a top official in the department said that applications from government employees with a husband and wife posted in different places would also get priority in transfer with valid reasons for the same. “There will be no transfers for husband and wife if one of them works in the private sector. An employee who is left with two years of service will not be eligible for transfer. The pleas for special cases will however be examined by the department,” the official added.

Sincerity and diligence on the part of the employees has also been considered while framing the policy. The minister is hopeful that the policy will streamline the process of transfer and will put an end to allegations of favouritism against a section of top officials in the department in this context.