West Bengal rolls out uniform transfer policy for field officers, bars home district postings

Kolkata, Jul 15 (PTI) The West Bengal government has introduced a uniform transfer policy for field-level officers across departments, making rotation mandatory after a fixed tenure and barring postings in home districts, according to a notification. The Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department stated in the notification that the policy aims to improve administrative efficiency, enhance transparency and accountability in public administration, and strengthen public service delivery. Under the new guidelines, an officer will ordinarily not be posted in his or her home district, except during the last two years before retirement, and that too only subject to administrative convenience. The notification, issued on Monday, stipulates that officers should normally be transferred after completing three years of continuous service in a post and should not ordinarily remain in the same post for more than four years. For officials handling revenue collection, tax collection and other sensitive field assignments, the tenure norms are stricter. They will ordinarily be transferred after two years in a post and will not normally continue in the same assignment beyond three years. "The objective is to bring greater transparency and accountability in public administration while ensuring administrative efficiency through a structured transfer policy applicable across departments," a senior state government official said. The guidelines also provide that while effecting transfers, the convenience of officers in terms of district may be considered, subject to administrative convenience and public interest. The Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department may relax the provisions in exceptional cases involving administrative exigencies, hardship or other special circumstances, the notification said. "The policy seeks to strike a balance between administrative requirements and the interests of employees while ensuring that prolonged postings in one place, particularly in sensitive assignments, are avoided," the official said. PTI SCH SOM