NEW DELHI: The

government, in a bid to remove ‘deadwood’ from central government, has compulsorily retired or recommended compulsory retirement of 312 officers belonging to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ services between July 2014 and May 2019, the ministry of personnel informed the

on Wednesday.

In a reply in Lok Sabha, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said of the 312 officers against whom provisions of Fundamental Rules 56(j) of Central Civil Services Pension Rules, 1972 and Rule 16(3) of All-India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 were invoked or recommended, 125 were Group ‘A’ officers and 187 from Group ‘B’.

The action followed review of performance record of 36,756 Group ‘A’ and 82,654 Group ‘B’ officers during the relevant period.

As per the applicable disciplinary rules, the government has the right to proceed against corrupt officials on the basis of available evidence. The government also, has the absolute right to retire government officials prematurely on the ground of lack of integrity and ineffectiveness, in public interest, as per the provisions of Fundamental Rules (FR) 56(j)(l), Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension) Rules, 1972 and Rule 16(3) (Amended ) of All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) [AIS(DCRB)] Rules, 1958.

These rules lay down the policy of periodic review and premature retirement of government servants, which is a continuous process, the minister said.