NATIONAL JUTE BOARD EMPLOYEES (CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) REGULATIONS, 2017

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 22 of the National Jute Board Act, 2008 (No. 12 of 2009), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules regulating the Service Conditions of the employees of the National Jute Board, as specified in the approved structure of the National Jute Board and the Schedule of Regulations (Recruitment Rules), namely:-

Section - I-General

1. Short Title and commencement.-

(1)     These rules may be called National Jute Board Employees (Conditions of Service) Regulations, 2017.

(2)     They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Applications.-

These rules shall apply to all employees of the National Jute Board, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India as specified in column (2) of Part-III of the Schedule annexed to these rules.

3. Number of posts, classification, pay band and grade pay or pay scale.-

The number of said posts, their classification, pay band and grade pay or pay scale attached thereto shall be as specified in columns 3 to 5 of the said schedule.

4. Method of recruitment, age limit, qualifications, etc.-

The method of recruitment, age limit, qualifications and other matters relating thereto shall be as specified in columns 6 to 13 of the aforesaid Schedule.

5. Definitions.-

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires:-

(a)      "Act" means National Jute Board Act, 2008 (Act. No. 12 of 2009);

(b)      "Board" means National Jute Board set up under Section 3 of the NJB Act 2008.

(c)      "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Board;

(d)      "Government" means Government of India.

(e)      "Appointing Authority" against a post means the authority empowered to appoint a person to that post;

(f)       "Secretary" means the Member Secretary of the National Jute Board

(g)      "Employee" means any whole time officer and office staff, technical staff and menial staff in the service of the Board, other than those whose salary is paid out of the contingencies, who shall also be the 'Public Servant' within the meaning of Section 20 of the National Jute Board Act, 2008 and Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code.
  

(h)     "Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes" means Scheduled Caste and Schedules Tribes as defined in clauses 25 and 26 of Article 366 of the Constitution of India.

Section -II-Applications

1. Pay & Allowances and Other Emoluments.-

The Pay Scales (Pay Bands and Grade Pays) & Allowances (viz.; DA, HRA, Special pay, Conveyance Allowance, OTA, Education Allowance, Deputation Allowance, LTC etc.), Hours of Work/Duty and the Leaves & Holidays (CL, EL, HPL/ML, Special Leave, Education/Study Leave and other holidays etc.) for the officers and employees of the National Jute Board will be the same as approved by the Central Sixth Pay Commission and extended to the NJB with subsequent changes in pay scales from time to time as would be applicable to the Central Government employees. However, NJB may frame and adopt its own Medical Rules, Pension Rules, Provident Fund Rules, TA Rules etc. with the approval of the NJB Board, as the CGHS/Govt. Pension Scheme/GPF/Govt. accommodations etc. are not available to the employees of the NJB/Statutory Bodies.

2. Service Rules.-

Save and otherwise contained in the conditions of services provided hereinafter, the employees of the NJB will generally, Mutatis-Mutandis, be governed by the Rules [including Fundamental Rules, Supplementary Rules, CCS (Conduct) Rules, CCS (CCA) Rules, CCS (Leave) Rules, CCS (RSA) Rules etc.], regulations, conditions of services, etc. as applicable to the Central Government Employees.

The posts under the Board shall be filled up in accordance with the Recruitment Rules of the National Jute Board. The Board shall, in their discretion, effect, from time to time, such changes in the classification & nomenclature of the posts and the Recruitment Rules in consultation with the Central Government as they deem fit and their decision shall be final and binding.

3. Application for Recruitments/Appointments.-

(A)     The Secretary may issue, general order or special directive with the approval of the Board/Chairman, from time to time, laying down the form and manner in which applications for appointment shall be made and the documentary evidence that shall be produced by the applicants in support of their age, qualification and/or experience.

(B)     Eligibility.- In order to be eligible for direct recruitment to any grade or post, a candidate shall be a citizen of India or subjects of any other State eligible for appointment in similar posts of the Government of India.

(C)     No person shall be eligible for appointment to any grade or post if ---

(i)       the candidate, being a male candidate, has more than one wife living or, having a spouse living, marries in any case, in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life time of such spouse, or

(ii)      the candidate, being a female candidate, has her marriage void by reasons of the husband having a wife living at the time of such marriage or has married a person who has a wife living at the time of such marriage. Provided further that the Secretary may, if satisfied that there are special grounds for doing so and for reasons to be recorded in writing, exempt any candidate from the operation of the above sub-rule.

(iii)     other conditions for eligibility for appointment to a post as may be prescribed by the Board in such manner as may be deemed fit.

(D)     Character and antecedents to be suitable.- A candidate must satisfy the appointing authority that his/her character and antecedents are such as to make him or her suitable for appointment to a grade or post.

(E)     The decision of the appointing authority on the question whether a candidate does or does not satisfy any or all the requirements of these rules shall be final.

(F)      Physical Fitness.- A candidate must be in good mental and bodily health and free from any physical defects which are likely to affect the requirements of service under the Board and must pass such medical examination as may be prescribed by the Board before being eligible for appointment to any grade or post.

(G)     Payment of application fee.- A candidate shall, at the time of making the application, may pay such fees as the Secretary may prescribe. Provided that any candidate belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and any other category of candidate as may be prescribed by the Government from time to time will not be required to pay any application fees.

Section -III-Recruitments

1. Methods and principles of recruitment/filling up of posts.-

Subsequent to the initial filling up of the posts by fitment of the existing employees of the NJB, the posts under the Board shall be filled in by one or the other of the following methods, in accordance with the Recruitment Rules of the National Jute Board:-

(i)       By promotion;

(ii)      By deputation from any of the organized services or posts in the Central or State Government or Statutory/Autonomous organizations or public undertakings; and

(iii)     By direct recruitment;

(iv)    Short Term Contract against sanctioned posts/pay scales.

2. Procedure for direct recruitment.-

For the purpose of direct recruitment, the following procedure shall be followed:

For recruitment to posts, applications shall be invited by open advertisement in all India newspapers to be selected with reference to their range of publicity and circulation giving full information regarding the nature of the duties of the post, qualification and age limits required, prospect of promotion, if any, reservation & concession for Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes etc. and other relevant information. The advertisements must be kept online on relevant websites.

In cases where advertisement fails to obtain sufficient response from applicants, it shall be open to the Member Secretary of the Board to invite names of suitable candidates through established organizations or professional institutions. The process of selection for Group 'A' posts will be prescribed by the Selection Committee formed in accordance with the Recruitment Rules of the National Jute Board, for each posts and may involve written test or personal interview or both etc. However, process of selection for the posts of Group 'B', 'C' & 'D' will be written tests only, and there will be no interview for such posts ^{[1][as per the extant instructions of the DOPT].}

3. Procedure for Promotion.-

(i)       When post is a non-selection post, the basis of promotion shall be "seniority subject to fitness" as decided by the respective Departmental Promotion Committee.

(ii)      When a post is a selection post, the basis of promotion shall be "merit with due regard to seniority", merit being judged on the basis of a person's past performance by the Departmental Promotion Committee, as specified in Part-II of these rules for the relevant posts with the proviso that the composition of the DPC shall be the same as that of the Selection Committee for direct appointment. Selected persons shall be arranged in the order of their inter seniority in the grade from which they are promoted. In exceptional cases where a selected person is assessed to be so outstanding as to deserve a special consideration, the DPC, may, after fully satisfying itself that the person has been adjudged outstanding not merely on the basis of his grading in the confidential roll but that this grading was based on his outstanding performances place him to such higher position, vis-…-vis his senior as the Committee may determine having regard to the relative merits and seniority of those senior to him.

(iii)     A person who is not found fit for a promotion at particular meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee, shall not be passed over merely on the ground that he was not found fit at an earlier meeting. Such a person shall invariably be considered afresh at every meeting along with other eligible persons.

(iv)    All persons held eligible for promotion under the Recruitment Rules for the posts shall be arranged in order of their seniority and complete list duly certified by the officer-in-charge of administration not below the rank of Deputy Director of the Board that no eligible person has been left out, shall be placed before the Departmental Promotion Committee.

(v)      Any general order or direction issued by the Central Government from time to time for reservation of vacancies in various posts, which are filled in by the Board, for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or for granting any special concession to such persons shall also apply in respect of promotion of posts under the Board.

(vi)    Vigilance Clearance will be required to be submitted for each of the employees/candidates. ACRs/APARs will also be required to be submitted for each of the employees/candidates and weightage will be given to the ACRs/APARs as per the standard provisions/guidelines of the Central Government.

4. Composition of Departmental Promotion Committees (DPC).-

The composition of the Selection Committees will be the same as for the DPCs. The Composition of DPC for Group 'A' posts will be as follows:

In addition to the above, the Chairman may also nominate any other officers of NJB or professionals as members of the DPC. Endeavour should also be made to nominate representatives of SC/ST on the DPC constituted for various posts. However, the Recruitment Rules need not indicate the SC/ST officer as a DPC member as inclusion of such an officer is covered by the executive instructions.

5. Procedure of appointment on deputation.-

When a post is to be filled in by deputation the method to be adopted would be that ---

(i)       No organization shall be approached to lend a particular officer by name. Only such relevant particulars will be supplied to the organization concerned as will enable it to suggest the name of names of suitable persons for the post in question.

(ii)      No person shall normally be obtained or retained on deputation for more than 3 years where a post is to be filled by deputation.

(iii)     Vigilance Clearance will be required to be submitted for each of the employees/candidates. ACRs/APARs will also be required to be submitted for each of the employees/candidates and weightage will be given to the ACRs/APARs as per the standard provisions/guidelines of the Central Government.

6. Appointing Authorities.-

The Member Secretary shall be the appointing authority in respect of all posts except the post of Secretary, who shall be appointed by the Central Government/CSB-ACC from amongst the AIS/Group 'A' Services' Officers eligible for appointment under Central Staffing Scheme.

7. Eligibility of existing employees for direct recruitment.-

When the posts required to be filled in by direct recruitment are advertised, employees already in service of the Board and eligible for departmental promotion, if the recruitment Rules so provide, may also apply. The educational qualifications & age limit prescribed for the direct recruits can be relaxed/exempted for the departmental candidates as decided by the DPC.

8. Principles for determining seniority.-

(1)     Seniority means length of service in a particular post or grade. Thus, seniority shall be determined with reference to the date of appointment/promotion to a particular post or grade or any equivalent post or grade provided that where persons on deputation from Central Government or State Government or Public Undertakings or persons with war service are permanently absorbed in the service of the Board, seniority of such persons in the appropriate grade may be decided on merit by the Board on the advice of DPC. If an appointment order contains the names of more than one person, person whose name figured first in the order of appointment will be senior to the one whose name appears next to him and so on.

(2)     When appointments are made on the basis of a competitive examination or tests, names of the successful candidates shall be arranged in order of merit as determined by the number of marks obtained in the examination or test.

(3)     When appointments are made on the basis of interview only names of the selected candidate shall be arranged in order of preference determined by the Selection Committee and appointment shall be made in that order.

(4)     Persons serving on deputation in the Board shall have no seniority assigned to them vis-…-vis the regular employees of the Board and there shall be no combined seniority to them for the purpose of promotion.

Direct recruits.-

(1)     Seniority in respect of Selection posts shall be determined by the order of merit in which they are selected for the appointment in the respective posts, persons' appointed as a result of an earlier selection being senior to those appointed as a result of subsequent selection.

(2)     Seniority in respect of non-selection posts will be determined by the date of joining of the posts by such persons, person joining earlier being senior to those joining later.

(3)     Where two or more persons join on the same date, and if there is no merit ranking available to determine the seniority, then age of the persons will determine the seniority, older person being senior to younger.

(4)     In respect of non-selection posts also, where two or more persons join on the same date, then age of the persons will determine the seniority, older person being senior to younger.

(5)     Vigilance Clearance will be required to be submitted for each of the employees/candidates. ACRs/APARs will also be required to be submitted for each of the employees/candidates and weightage will be given to the ACRs/APARs as per the standard provisions of the Central Government on the subject.

9. Short Term Contract.-

Depending upon the requirement, if any post is not possible to be filled up by promotion, deputation and direct recruitment, such post will be filled through short term contract for a period not more than 2 years and can be extended further for a maximum period of one year, depending on the requirement as well as the performance of the candidate. The contract can be terminated without issuing any notice. The advertisements for such short term contract with terms and conditions shall be as per the Govt./CVC guidelines.

10. Probation.-

(i)       Persons recruited direct in any post and employees promoted from one post to any higher post shall be placed on probation for period of one year from the date of appointment which may be extended or reduced at the discretion of the appointing authority and may be reverted under the orders of the appointing authority without notice or assigning any reason thereof at any time during probation.

Note: The appointing authority may dispense with the above provision regarding probation in the case of purely temporary appointments not likely to exceed a period of one year and such an employee shall be liable for reversion or termination of service at any time without notice.

(ii)      During the period of probation, a person appointed direct shall be liable to be discharged at one month's notice. Similarly during the period of probation, if the person appointed direct desires to leave the service of the Board he shall give a month's notice in writing to the appointing authority or pay cash compensation equivalent to his pay for the period the actual notice falls short of one month unless the appointing authority relaxes the condition of notice either in full or in part in special circumstances.

Provided that the Board may terminate the service of any employee forthwith without such notice on payment to him of a sum equivalent to the amount of his pay plus allowances at the same rates at which he was drawing immediately before the termination of his service for the period of the notice or as the case may be for the period by which such notice falls short of one month.

Section - IV Miscellaneous

1. Payment of traveling allowances for attending interviews.-

In the case of posts filled by direct recruitment, the candidates (including persons already in the service of the Board) called for may be granted traveling allowance for second class railway fare by shortest route to and from their place of normal residence.

2. Certificate of Health.-

A medical certificate of fitness will be required from every person prior to his initial appointment in the Board's service.

Employees of the Board belonging to all Groups, viz.; A, B, C & D will be required to produce Medical Certificate at the time of his/her joining the initial appointment in the Board. The detailed medical report and medical certificate of fitness for appointment to the post will be required to be issued by the Presidency Surgeon of the State Government or a Civil Surgeon located outside the City/Town at his/her own expenses (non-reimbursable).

3. Cancellation of appointment orders.-

If a candidate selected for the post earmarked for direct recruit fails to join duty within the date mentioned in the appointment order and where no such date is mentioned, within 30 days of the date of issue of the appointment order, or within such extended period as the appointing authority may fix, the appointment order shall be deemed to have been cancelled. Provided that each and every appointment order shall be issued under registered post with acknowledgement due.

4. Compassionate Appointment.-

Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the Chairman may appoint the legitimate son or daughter or spouse of an employee of the Board who dies while in service, if person to be so appointed possesses the prescribed qualification and experience for the post and is otherwise found suitable, in accordance with the Compassionate Appointment Rules of the Central Government.

Note: The reasons for departing from the normal procedure, if any, for making compassionate appointments shall be recorded in writing while exercising the powers under this rule. The object of this provision is to render help to the family in indigent circumstances.

5. Suppression of facts.-

The Educational/Professional Qualifications', Age, Caste etc.; Certificates shall be subject to verification in respect of all the employees/candidates. Any candidate who is found to have deliberately furnished any particulars which are false or who have suppressed material information of a character, which if known, would ordinarily have debarred him/her from getting an appointment in the Board's service is liable to be disqualified, and, if appointed, to be dismissed from service.

6. Canvassing for support to be disqualification.-

Any endeavour on the part of a person or his/her relations or friends to canvas support by direct or indirect method for his/her application for appointment in the Board's service or for promotion to a higher post shall disqualify him/her for the appointment or promotion.

7. Training.-

Persons recruited direct or promoted to any post shall undertake training and refresher course as may be prescribed from time to time by the Board. The Officers and Employees may also opt for suitable trainings for upgrading their skills, which are directly related to the Performance/Activities of the Board and further facilitate career progression.

8. Liability for service.-

A person recruited to a post under the Board shall be liable to be posted anywhere in India or abroad.

9. Terminal Benefits on Death, Retirement [Superannuation, Voluntary Retirement], Resignation, etc.-

(i)       The age of superannuation of the Board employees will be in accordance with the age of superannuation as applicable to the Central Government employees from time to time. Presently the retirement age will be 60 years.

(ii)      The employees will contribute to the Central Provident Funds (CPF) Scheme of the Central Government OR to the Contributory Provident Fund maintained by the Trustees constituted for the purpose by the NJB. The rules and regulations of the Central Provident Funds (CPF) Scheme of the Central Govt. OR the NJB CPF Trust will be applicable to all the employees of the Board. Decision for opting Central Provident Funds Scheme or the CPF Trust Scheme will be taken by the NJB Board.

(iii)     The employees will be entitled to terminal benefits, viz. Gratuity, Leave Encashment, Insurance etc. as per the Central Government rules and procedures.

(iv)    The employees will be subject to pension benefits, as may be in place as on the date of superannuation, by way of their subscription to any group pension scheme of the Board.

10. Saving.-

Nothing in these Rules shall affect reservation, relaxation of age limit, other concession, etc. required to be provided for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in accordance with the orders issued by the Central Government from time to time in this regard.

Notwithstanding anything contained in these Rules, the NJB Board shall have the Power to partially relax the age or qualification of any employee in exceptional cases on merits on case to case basis.