Chandigarh, June 28
Resentment is brewing among the GMCH cadres against what they describe as highhandedness associated with rank disregard for the service rules and regulations by the authorities concerned of the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) , who they claim are regularising their “favoured employees”, although they are on “deputation” from other UT departments.

The authorities claim otherwise and say that these employees are not on deputation but came here on “transfer basis” and have been “confirmed” at the GMCH following statutory rules and regulations.

This, however, is causing resentment among the employees of the GMCH who fear that this might jeopardise their promotion prospects in future. In the past couple of years, six such employees have been absorbed in the GMCH cadres although the hospital administration cannot do so, claim the employees adding that four employees were confirmed on May 18 this year.

Interestingly even the orders issued by the Director Principal, GMCH, Prof S.B.S. Mann, on May 22, confirming a senior assistant under a notification of the Government of India, endorsed by the Chandigarh Administration, have also come under a cloud in which dates have been wrongly quoted. While this notification “for simplification of confirmation procedures” was actually issued on March 28, 1988, and adopted by the UT Administration on June 30, 1988, the order of confirmation of the above said official mentions these two dates as March 28, 1998 and June 30, 1998.

Besides, the notification also says that a government servant can be confirmed only once in his service which has to be in the entry grade. And the entry grade of a senior assistant is as clerk. The order, however, shows the employee being confirmed as a Senior Assistant in the GMCH cadre which is against the rules, say the GMCH employees. Sources in the employment exchange also affirm this.

Disgruntled employees say the GMCH authorities are flouting rules to appease their “ favorite officials” out of the way. Now that they have been confirmed in the GMCH cadre, they will not go back to their parent department where these officials would have had to join on a lower rank. The GMCH authorities have not even bothered to get a mandatory ‘no objection certificate (NOC)’ from the parent department, they add.

Though the GMCH authorities deny this, employees assert that four employees confirmed in the GMCH cadre on May 18 this year, on the orders signed by the GMCH Director Principal, Mr S.B.S. Mann, were actually “transferred to the GMCH on deputation basis”.

GMCH top officials say otherwise. When contacted, GMCH Director Principal Prof S.B.S. Mann said he was not aware of any such case. An official version, on this issue would be given by the GMCH Administrative Officer, Sqn Ldr Sunil Bhatia, he added.

Sqn Ldr Bhatia, when contacted, said the officials under question were not on deputation, but had been inducted from various departments of the UT Administration on transfer basis. “Government of India rules and guidelines say that transferred employees can be absorbed. Moreover, in February 2001, it was further clarified that the word “transfer“ could be substituted with “absorb”. The case of these employees was considered in the DPC held in May, this year after taking their ACRs and draft recruitment rules and regulations in account. No employee of the GMCH has suffered because of this decision, ” he added.

However, he refused to show the relevant papers to confirm that these six employees were on transfer. “These persons have been confirmed as per rules and regulations,” he said.

But the rules and regulations say otherwise, claim the employees. In this matter Chandigarh Administrations follows the Punjab Civil Services Rules. These rules say that under deputation, including short-term contract, an official from outside can come for a limited period and he will have to revert to his parent cadre after the expiry of that period. However, a person who has been appointed on transfer basis can be absorbed, provided statuary rules and guidelines are followed.

Chandigarh, June 28
Chandigarh will soon have a chess academy for young chess players, where specialised facility will be imparted to these prodigies. This was disclosed by Mr Vipnesh Bhardwaj, secretary of the Chandigarh Chess Association.

He told this reporter before leaving for Nagpur for a senior national meet that the association had also sent a proposal to the All-India Chess Federation (AICF) for its final approval of dates to hold the National Rapid Chess Tournament in the first week of October. He said the nod to hold this event was given during the visit of Mr P.T. Ummer Koya, secretary general of the AICF, on June 20 at Chandigarh, when he had felt his satisfaction over the infrastructural facilities available here to hold any kind of national level chess meet.

Mr Bhardwaj said the above meet would be held in the under-12 and under-14 section in both boys and girls and they were expecting more than 250 players and officials for this meet. He said the unique part of rapid chess was that a stipulated time was set for the conclusion of any match. Suppose if they started ten matches at a stretch, then all matches would be finished after a given time interval. The AICF would also send its technical delegates for the smooth conduct of the meet.

On the proposed academy, Mr Bhardwaj said would training would be imparted by senior chess players, who would give coaching lessons with the aid of computers. He said nowadays it was possible to even play with top chess grandmasters such as Gary Kasparov on the computer.

Mr Ummer Koya, also the president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), came all the way from Calicut (Kerala) to meet the UT chess officials. Mr Bhardwaj further told that now chess was gaining much popularity in the country and this region had big potential for the sport. They were making efforts to get it included at the school level. He said the world champion Vishwanathan Anand was a morale-booster for those aspiring to become chess champions. This could be gauged for the fact that at the chess coaching centre, Sector 42, as many as 40 regular trainees daily practiced under the watchful eyes of senior players.