Srinagar, Aug 20: In a latest development, J&K School Education Department (SED) Thursday notified a new comprehensive transfer policy for its employees while introducing a five-zone rotation system.
The new policy has introduced a point-based assessment mechanism besides special safeguards for employees serving in difficult areas.
As per the order, the policy has been issued while superseding all previous government orders on the subject and seeks to regulate transfers through prescribed tenure norms, merit-based points and staff rationalisation.
Under the new framework, all educational institutions have been divided into five Annual Transfer Drive (ATD) zones.
As per the policy, Zone-I covers institutions within municipal limits of district headquarters while Zone-II includes those areas located outside municipal limits and up to 20 kilometres from district headquarters while Zone-III covers institutions beyond 20 and up to 40 kilometres.
Also, Zone-IV comprises institutions located beyond 40 kilometres from district headquarters that require a change of residence, while Zone-V has been designated as the difficult-area category.
As per the framework, employees posted in Zones I, II and III will ordinarily have a three-year tenure at a particular institution.
“The tenure will be two years for Zone-IV and one year for Zone-V,” it reads.
As per the policy, the government has ordered that employees completing the prescribed tenure in Zone-V will ordinarily be relieved from such postings for which the concerned directorates will be required to initiate their further adjustment.
“Retention beyond the prescribed tenure will be allowed only in exceptional circumstances and reasons will have to be recorded in writing,” it reads.
Also, the completion of prescribed Zone-V tenure will give employees a preferential claim for consideration against suitable vacancies in Zones-I and II, subject to administrative requirements.
The policy also seeks to prevent prolonged postings in difficult areas by making service there a major factor in the new transfer assessment system.
“Employees serving in Zone-V can earn five points for completing the prescribed tenure, apart from additional points for service beyond the mandatory tenure, with a maximum of 25 points,” the policy document reads.
For Zone-IV service, employees will get three points for completing the prescribed tenure and additional points for service beyond the mandatory period, with a maximum of 15 points.
The department has introduced an online, point-based Transfer Assessment Matrix for the annual transfer exercise, aimed at determining relative priority among employees seeking transfers.
Apart from hard-area service, the matrix gives five points to employees aged 55 years or above and five points to female employees who are widows, divorcees or single parents.
“Persons with benchmark disabilities can receive up to 10 points, while employees with serious illness of themselves, their spouse, child or dependent parent can also receive 10 points,” it reads.
As per the policy, employees whose spouses are serving in government and posted in the same district will receive five points.
The policy additionally provides 10 points for demonstrated exceptional academic performance, including improvement in student learning outcomes, board examination results, school performance and other measurable academic achievements during the preceding three academic years.
“Employees aged 58 years and above will ordinarily not be posted to Zone-IV or Zone-V, except where compelling administrative considerations exist and the employee requests such posting,” it reads.
As per the policy, the special consideration will be given to government-employed spouses, employees nearing superannuation, single parents, widows, divorcees, female employees, persons with benchmark disabilities and employees facing exceptional medical or security-related circumstances.
“Government-employed spouses will, as far as feasible, be posted suitably or within reasonable proximity to each other, subject to availability of posts,” it reads.
Also, employees due to retire within one year will preferably be posted near their residences, while those aged 58 years and above will ordinarily be kept out of the two hardest zones.
The government will also consider inter-cadre transfers on marriage ground on the recommendation of a designated committee, provided the employee has completed at least five years of service in the parent district or divisional cadre.
The policy also places restrictions on mutual transfers. Such transfers will ordinarily not be permitted within the so-called soft Zones I, II and III and will primarily be considered where they facilitate rotation from hard zones without adversely affecting pupil-teacher ratios.
‘Employees transferred on a mutual basis will be required to serve for a minimum of three years at the allotted place,” it reads.
The department has also tightened staff rationalisation provisions wherein the surplus employees identified through rationalisation can be redeployed to institutions facing shortages irrespective of their period of stay at the existing place of posting.
However, the government has said that rationalisation should not completely deplete teaching staff from an institution or adversely affect teaching of core subjects.
“Transfers will ordinarily be carried out after conclusion of the academic session and before commencement of the next academic session. The department, however, retains the power to order transfers during the academic session in cases involving academic or administrative exigencies, including subject-specific requirements, staff imbalances, school results, enrolment patterns and institutional performance,” it reads.
The policy framework also empowers the competent authority to defer, modify or withhold a transfer if its implementation is likely to adversely affect academic outcomes, public examinations or the functioning of an institution.
The government has reiterated that the new policy does not apply to Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) and Regularised Rehbar-e-Taleem (RReT) employees, whose appointments are school-specific.
“A separate framework governing their transfers and allied service matters is under formulation and will be notified separately,” it reads.
