DoPT asks government officers to sign bond before leaving for APPPA training

THE government officers selected for a nine-month-long training programme on public administration with two weeks of international exposure now must sign a bond paper stating that they would return the money with interests in case they leave the service in five years after completion of the programme. Sensing a possibility of government officers quitting after undertaking government-funded trainings, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in a circular dated February 21, 2012 inserted a new clause of a bond sign for those officers who are undertaking Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) to be held between July 2, 2012 and March 31, 2013. In fact, DoPT’s earlier circular dated November 17, 2011 on the same subject did not have that clause. The programme attracts a large number of Group A officers including IAS, IPS, IRS etc. as it has a module of a two-week-long international exposure too.  Significantly, during the highs of Anna Hazare movement last year, Income-Tax department asked Hazare’s close confidante and former IRS officer Arvind Kejriwal to pay over Rs 9 lakh as he did not join the service after completing his study leave at government expenses. I-T department demanded Kejriwal to return two years’ salary amounting to Rs 3.50 lakh and interests of Rs 4.16 lakh apart from Rs 1 lakh for a computer loan with interests. Kejriwal insisted he did not violate any rule but finally paid the dues with interests.
Now, the government does not want to take any risk of future disputes. According to the new DoPT rule, the participants of the APPPA course must sign a bond stating that they would return the money if they fail to resume duty after the course or resign in five years of their return. The failure to complete the course will also mean the money needs to be returned. To amount to be returned is also clearly defined in the bond itself. It includes pay and allowances during the period, course fee, travel expenses, cost of international training etc.

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a) A New York court on Wednesday asked Indian Foreign Service Officer Neena Malhotra and her husband to pay about $1.5 million (about Rs 7.5 crore) for forcing an Indian girl Shanti Gurung to work "without pay" and meting out “barbaric treatment”. Ms Gurung was their maid.
b) Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer VS Bhaskar who is facing charges of sexual harassment of a woman colleague, S Padmaja, withdrew his writ petition challenging the CAT order. The CAT had earlier directed Bhaskar’s transfer from UIDAI to his parent cadre.
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