Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram): Experienced officers serving in several departments of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration are allegedly being denied equal career advancement opportunities due to restrictive feeder-cadre provisions for induction into DANICS, ANTCC Campaign Committee Chairman G. Bhasker has pointed out, urging the Lt. Governor to intervene.
In a representation to the Lt. Governor, Bhasker argued that the existing system limits DANICS induction to select feeder cadres, including Block Development Officers, Tehsildars and Assistant Registrars of Cooperative Societies, leaving equally experienced Group A and Group B Gazetted officers from departments such as Fisheries, Agriculture and allied sectors outside the promotion channel.
He pointed out that these officers have accumulated years of administrative experience, including service in remote and difficult areas, and possess valuable knowledge of the Islands’ distinct geographical, social and governance challenges. Excluding them from consideration, he said, undermines career equity, affects morale and deprives the Administration of experienced personnel familiar with local conditions.
Bhasker has urged the Lt. Governor to take up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for amendments to the existing recruitment rules to widen the pool of eligible feeder cadres. He has also called for regular Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meetings to ensure timely consideration of eligible island-based officers.
He maintained that recognising the experience and merit of officers across departments through fairer avenues of induction would strengthen the administrative framework and improve governance and public service delivery across the Islands.
