Shimla, Oct 28 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to club the stay of the education department employees for the purpose of transfer if they remain posted within a 30-km radius, according to an official memorandum.

The decision comes as a major setback to the education department employees, especially school and college teachers, who manage their transfers to nearby places to break the stay.

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The minimum stay at a station in accordance with the government's transfer policy is three years after which they can be transferred but influential employees, especially in towns and peripheral areas, manage to get postings in nearby places to break the stay, said the memorandum issued by the higher education department here on Friday night.

The education department employees could now be transferred to places beyond a 30-km radius after their minimum stay of three years.

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Due to ambiguity in the transfer policy and guidelines, the employees manage their transfers to some nearby station before completing the minimum tenure of three years and remain posted within a few kilometres for years, which results in vacancies in far-flung areas and also deprives the employees posted there to serve in towns, the memorandum said.

The government has carefully considered the matter and decided to club the stay of the employees and treat it as continuous service at one station if they serve within a 30-km radius.

The government's decision to club the stay of the employees at convenient stations would check over-staffing urban institutions and benefit the institutions in the rural and backward areas suffering due to a shortage of staff.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)