129 non-performing government officers forced to retire

This action by the central government is a part of an effort to check deadwood of its workforce

As many as 129 government officers have been forced to retire in past few months in public interest for being non-performers, Union minister Jitendra Singh said today.

The action is part of a review being done by the central government to check deadwood of its workforce.

"A total of 30 Group A officers and 99 Group B officers (total 129) have been sent on retirement in past few months," he said during a press conference.

The punishment of compulsory retirement was given after reviewing service records of over 24,000 Group A officers and 42,251 Group B officers.

He said the authorities are looking into the service records of another 34,451 Group A officers and 42,521 from Group B to check the non-performers.

Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office, said the government has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and it is committed to ensuring citizen-centric governance.

The Centre had in January terminated a senior IAS officer on grounds of non-performance.

Earlier in 2014, graft-tainted IAS couple in Madhya Pradesh, Arvind and Tinoo Joshi, were dismissed from service, four years after an income-tax search on their house led to the detection of disproportionate assets worth Rs 350 crore and recovery of Rs three crore cash.

A service review on a government employee is conducted twice -- first after 15 years and again after 25 years of completion of qualifying service.