Port Blair, Nov. 20:  Shri V. K. Abdul Aziz, Member, Bindaban Constituency, South Andaman has written to the Chief Secretary, A&N Administration recently urging for a cadre review and restructuring of Panchayat Secretary and IT Cadre under the A&N Administration.

In his letter, Abdul Aziz mentioned that it has come to his notice that employees in both of these cadres have now accumulated more than 25 to 30 years of service, and those appointed to the positions of Panchayat Secretary and Computer Assistant are expected to retire in the same posts after serving for more than 30 years.

These Departments of the UT Administration have not conducted a cadre review exercise in the last 20 years, which is required to be conducted every five years according to established regulations. This oversight has given rise to a range of pressing issues that require immediate attention and resolution.

In today's rapidly evolving IT landscape, it is imperative to assess whether the IT function within the UT is delivering in line with industry standards. He further said that it has been noted that the majority of IT employees are engaged in routine IT tasks and are not involved in the core IT activities of the department and this situation is largely due to their job designations

Aziz requested the Chief Secretary to issue necessary direction to the concerned Departments to review the cadre and convene a meeting at a higher level chaired by the Commissioner-cum-Secretary. Such a meeting would serve as a pivotal platform for discussing and comprehending the core challenges encountered by both the Panchayat Secretary Cadre and the IT Cadre, he said. Moreover, it would enable the exploration of proposals related to cadre restructuring and mechanisms for promotion.

He also mentioned that he has received information that a Work Study of the IT Cadre has recently been conducted by ISTM (Institute of Secretariat Training and Management), DoPT, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and a significant amount has been paid by the A&N Administration. In their WSR (Work Study Report), a detailed study of the mandate, roles and responsibilities, and the existing setup of the Department of Information Technology and Amalgamated IT Cadre of A&N Administration were submitted. Aziz requested that the findings be expeditiously implemented for the welfare of the IT Cadre within the UT Administration, which would also offer psychological incentives

Immediate benefits that can provide psychological incentives to these employees may include revising their job titles to better reflect their current roles and responsibilities, restructuring the cadre to address the stagnation issue to some extent, and most importantly, including the review of the Panchayat Secretary and IT Cadre in the CS Review meeting to ensure timely completion of the work, said the Member Brindaban Constituency.