When an officer in a post (Whether within the cadre of his service or not) is for any reason prevented from officiating in his turn in a post on higher scale or grade borne on the cadre of the service to which he belongs, he may be authorized by special orders of the appropriate authority pro forma officiating promotion into such scale or grade and thereupon be granted the pay of that scale or grade, if that be more advantageous to him, on each occasion on which the officer immediately junior to him in the cadre of his service (or if that officer has been passed over by reason of inefficiency or unsuitability or because he is on leave or serving outside the ordinary line or forgoes officiating promotion of his own volition to that scale or grade, then the officer next junior to him not so passed over) draws officiating pay in that scale or grade.
Proforma Promotion is granted subject to fulfillment of certain conditions under the relevant instructions issued from time to time keeping in view the vacancy position.
To obviate the hardship caused in cases where all the seniors of the officer outside the line are promoted and there is no junior officer eligible for promotion within the cadre despite clear regular vacancies available for making promotions, the benefit of 'Next Below Rule' is allowed to the officers working outside their regular line in dispensation of the requirements of `one for one' and 'promotion of atleast one junior', subject to the fulfillment of the following further conditions: (a) that a post within the cadre remains unfilled for want of an approved person junior to the officer; and (b) the vacancy caused in the cadre is not filled up by making promotion on ad-hoc basis till the release of the next panel when some juniors become eligible for promotion. OM No. 8/4/84-Estt (Pay-I) dated 15th July, 1985, issued in this regard is still in force.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
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BB/NK/HS/SS 726