Taking umbrage former chief minister Virbhadra Singh statements about shutting down of the state administrative tribunal, Ravinder Singh Ravi and Narinder Bragta, ministers in the Dhumal government, state that the step was taken for the best interest of the employees after due consultations will legal luminaries.
In a communiqués, the duo hold that for the last 22 years SAT had not been doing well for thousands of cases related to the service matters of employees had been pending and justice to the victims was delayed.
“In some instances the delay was such that hundreds of employees have retired out awaiting justice from the tribunal,” says Bragta and Ravi. Dilly-dallying in deciding cases resulted not only in overlooking the interests of employees but also amounted to un-necessary financial burden on the state exchequer, they add.
They said that SAT had virtually become defunct and had lost its relevance in the face of pendency of thousands of cases. These tribunals had already been abolished by almost all states in the country.
Lashing out at the former chief minister statements the duo state that successive congress regimes had ignored interests of employees by resorting to transfers on political considerations and giving patronage to a transfer industry.
Virbhadra Singh has forgotten the time when he took over as chief minister in March, 2003 and immediately ordered large scale transfers to victimize employees by sending them on tribal and far flung areas postings. He even went to the extent of terminating the services of a number of employees.
On coming to power, the BJP government has brought about a fair transfer policy. The government would approach the central government for raising the strength of High Court Judges and for setting up a High Court Bench at Dharamsala, said Bragta and Ravi.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
