Gurgaon: Haryana education department has reshuffled its decision-making powers through a new standing order, placing major education policy decisions — including opening and closing of govt schools, training institutions and public libraries, taking over privately managed educational institutions, and naming govt or aided institutions after martyrs, freedom fighters and eminent personalities — under the minister-in-charge, while high-level appointments, transfers and larger policy matters go to the chief minister.The order, dated Aug 12 and issued by school education minister Mahipal Dhanda, supersedes all previous orders on delegation of powers. It divides cases among the chief minister, minister-in-charge, additional chief secretary/ principal secretary/ commissioner/ secretary, special secretary, joint secretary and other officers.The chief minister will decide all cases specifically referred under Haryana Rules of Business, matters to be submitted to the governor, starred assembly questions, resolutions and motions, replies to Parliament questions, and framing or amendment of Acts and Rules, besides major policy matters.CM approval will also be required for first appointments, promotions, compulsory retirement, punishment, dismissal, removal, suspension, reversion and re-employment affecting Group A officers, their deputation within India or abroad, creation, abolition or upgradation of posts, prosecution sanctions and vigilance cases, transfers of Group A and B officers outside the online transfer policy, Group A postings, and foreign training or tours of Group A and B officers.The minister-in-charge will also handle differences between the minister and administrative secretary, important references to or from the Centre, and departmental policy.On the financial side, the minister will decide inclusion of new works in supplementary estimates, administrative approval for procurement and major or minor works above Rs 10 lakh, building works in educational institutions, and diversion of funds between schemes.Service matters concerning Group B, C and D employees — including appointments, postings, promotions, suspension, compulsory retirement, punishment, dismissal and removal — have also been assigned at the ministerial level, along with deputation and posting of Group B officers, seniority of gazetted officers, vigilance references and several appeals.Significantly for schools, financial and administrative matters relating to Haryana State Board of School Education — including EOA/renewal of affiliation, opening and closing of admission or counselling portals, and fee increases in govt, private and other educational institutions — will go to the minister, along with grant-in-aid to privately managed schools, relaxation in recognition norms, and declaring govt girls’ schools as co-educational institutions.Senior departmental officers have been given powers over routine appeals, probation, confirmation, minor punishments, audit matters, service extensions, financial irregularities within specified limits, and other cases that do not involve major policy changes.Special secretary or secretary will handle appeals against major penalties imposed by field officers, factual replies to Parliament questions, minor punishment of Class-II/HES-II employees, scholarships and expenditure-related cases.Joint or additional secretaries will deal with smaller financial losses up to Rs 25,000, audit objections, complaints against private schools and non-gazetted employees where no report has been sought by a higher authority, and certain service matters.Before this, these powers were not all concentrated with the education minister and were distributed under the department’s earlier delegation orders among the administrative secretary, directorates and other departmental authorities, depending on the specific matter.The order also allows senior officers to dispose of urgent cases when the minister or administrative secretary is away from Chandigarh, with such cases to be placed before the concerned authority on their return.
