Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2 (KARC-2), headed by former Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, on Saturday recommended to the State government to exempt the requirement of obtaining a caste verification certificate for issuing appointment orders by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) for candidates selected under general merit, category-1, SC and ST, belonging to others (physically challenged, rural quota), and women categories.
In the report submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the commission said the general recruitment rules should be amended accordingly for expediting the recruitment process. In its 7th Report, the commission has covered nine departments and made 527 recommendations.
It said: “After selection of candidates by KPSC, months and in some cases years of delay occur in giving appointment letters to candidates.” To reduce the time taken, it is recommended to exempt the requirement of obtaining a caste verification certificate, it added.
Noting that many selections are delayed because of the time taken by KPSC for document verification, it recommended that in the case of recruitments where there are no interviews, KPSC should do automatic online verification of documents with the online databases of the Revenue Department (using RD numbers) and Exam Board databases for SSLC, PU marks cards. It said the verification of original degree certificates and other documents by calling the selected candidates should be done by the departments concerned.
The commission said newly-recruited staff should be compulsorily sent to orientation or induction course of at least 30 days by each department. It recommended that undergoing one-week training be made a compulsory condition for being considered for promotion.
Tatkal services
Under the Karnataka Sakala Services Act, the report recommended that the relevant rules be amended for providing tatkal services within a day or two depending on the service on payment of the tatkal rates. Employees may be given incentive for providing tatkal services.
It is recommended that the Sakala Act be amended to increase the compensatory cost from ₹20 per day to ₹250 per day of delay subject to a maximum of ₹25,000 on the lines of the penalty prescribed under RTI Act.
The current Sakala Services Act prescribed the compensatory cost as ₹20 per day for the period of delay in delivering a service, subject to a maximum of ₹500. The 12-year-old Act should be changed for making the compensatory cost provision more effective. The penalty for not furnishing information under the RTI is ₹250 per day subject to a maximum of ₹25,000.
On typists, shared employees
The Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2 report said vacant posts of typists should be abolished in all departments by general orders. Typists may be re-designated as “multi-skilled” workers. It also suggested that outsourced employees working in the Secretariat be rotated among departments after three-five years for transparent functioning.
It suggested that government offices hire employees on a part-time or shared basis. The functions and services that would be delivered on shared basis are: Data Entry Operations, Housekeeping Services, Accounting and Payroll Services in smaller offices, Recruitment Services, Legal Services, Data collection and Surveying, Analytics Services, and IT services - cloud computing, data storage and management, and cyber-security.
