Steel Secretary Bent on Downsizing 35% Manpower in SAIL By Invoking FR 56(j)?
With a view to reviewing operations, focusing on enhancing production, cost optimization, and increasing mechanization, Sandeep Poundrik, Secretary Steel, visited Bhilai Steel Plant, a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) on April 11. The Secretary, who was accompanied by K K Singh, Director (Personnel) & interim CMD and Abhijit Narendra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel & Government Director on SAIL Board, has strictly asked the management to reduce manpower in line with RINL. If SAIL management fails to do so, he himself would give premature retirements.
Fear mongering among employees of SAIL
According to sources, as usual, Poundrik lambasted the management for performance and pressed for more ambitious targets for a permanent reduction in production costs by reducing the man power cost through Voluntary Retirement, Compulsory Retirement and Pre-mature Retirement using FR 56(j) of CCS Rules. It has been gathered that Poundrik wants 35% reduction in the manpower.
While quoting the example of RINL, he said that they (RINL) also use to give lame excuses for not reducing the manpower. However, the moment “I said that I will prepare the list myself, the same day RINL submitted the list for manpower reduction”. He said the same strategy would have to be followed here.
Since the day Poundrik has joined as Secretary in the Ministry of Steel, he has been a strong votary of usage of FR 56(j) for giving Pre-mature Retirement to employees of the PSUs under his ministry. The extent of his irrational fixation to invoke FR 56(j) is such that he forced SAIL to prematurely retire 11 officers on Feb 11, 2025 going against the public interest and pressurising SAIL to overstep its own stated policy on this subject.
On 11.02.2025 SAIL & MoS transgressed all the limits of absolutism, tyranny, immorality and humanity when they together approved pre-mature retirement for the Whistle Blower. Therefore, the fear is largely because FR 56(j) is being invoked based on the whims & fancies to promote personal agenda and settle scores with honest officers rather than a transparent, honest, and ethical approach to weed out the real dead wood.
Stigmatic Premature Retirement order
The object of premature retirement, where it is not awarded as a punishment, aims at weeding out dead wood to maintain efficiency and initiative in the service, and dispensing with the services of those whose integrity is doubtful so as to preserve purity in the administration.
If the order of premature retirement casts a stigma on the government servant or contains any statement casting aspersion on his conduct or character, it would be treated as an order of punishment, attracting Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India. If, however, the order of premature retirement refers only to an assessment of his work and does not cast an aspersion on his conduct or character, the order of premature retirement cannot be treated as an order of punishment. The test would be the manner in which a reasonable person would read or understand the order of premature retirement.
By writing “Doubtful Integrity” in the Pre-mature Retirement order issued, SAIL has not only made the order “Stigmatic” but it has ruined all the possibilities to get a new job/recruitment of the officers. Moreover, the wicked intent of impish management of SAIL can be gauged from the fact that “Doubtful Integrity” has been written in the orders of those officials also where the proposing committee has clearly mentioned “No Doubtful Integrity”.
SAIL is on rampage; blatantly murders honesty, corporate governance, accountability, transparency, ethics, morality, and human values; none spared.
The “Dirtiest Joke” ever played through Open Misuse of Power
Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian a Liberal politician, and a writer. In an 1887 letter to an Anglican bishop, he famously wrote, 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely', underscoring his belief that unchecked power poses the greatest threat to human freedom. He meant that as a person's power increases, their moral sense decreases.
Though many dirty jokes have been played on the Whistle Blower by SAIL and Ministry of Steel in last over 3 years from the day he exposed massive corruption in SAIL. However, the dirtiest one is prematurely retiring him through a series of FAKE & FALSE documents prepared wickedly for this purpose only. As if above was not enough, SAIL wrote “Doubtful Integrity” in his Premature Retirement order.
On the other hand, no questions have been raised on the Integrity of the officials who were first suspended and then brought back to sensitive positions with some promoted also, pending CBI inquiry. The most blatant case is that of V Suresh who has been promoted to CMD MOIL after bringing him back from suspension, pending CBI inquiry. He being the Regional Manager of Northern Region of SAIL CMO was actively involved in the sales to both Venkatesh Infra Projects P Ltd and Avon Steel Industries P Ltd.
Pre-mature Retirement given to the Whistle Blower Rajeev Bhatia is not in “Public Interest” but against “Public Interest”
Dead Woods retained; Verdant Woods removed
Poundrik through his proxy Narendra, Government Director on SAIL Board, got the pre-mature Retirement approved for the Whistle Blower Rajeev Bhatia in the board meeting dated Feb 11, 2025. The act of giving pre-mature retirement to an officer who working in the “Public Interest” exposed the mammoth corruption in SAIL and saved “Public Money,” is completely perverse. Please refer our story titled “SAIL PROJECT SCAM : FAKE PROJECTS felling; TMT still selling” where we have explicitly brought out that despite vigorous vendetta against him, through his zeal and resolve and love for his organisation, Bhatia threw the FAKE Projects almost out of SAIL system resulting in shift of sales from FAKE Projects to SAIL Distributors/Dealers and Genuine Projects/Construction companies which brought annual savings of Rs 125 to 150 CR for SAIL.
From the day Poundrik joined as Secretary in Ministry of Steel, the Whistle Blower Bhatia has been continuously writing to him about blatant corruption in SAIL and extreme harassment being met by him in the hands of SAIL management. 'Bureaugram' has accessed one of the letters written by Bhatia to the Secretary. In his letter dated Sep 11, 2024, Bhatia has also raised his apprehensions that SAIL management is running the nefarious agenda to compulsorily/prematurely retire him. It is a 10-page letter with 9-page annexure which gives threadbare account of corruption in SAIL and deadly victimization & harassment he is being subjected to by SAIL management to take revenge on him for exposing the mammoth & dirty corruption in SAIL. Instead of protecting Bhatia for his work in “Public Interest”, Poundrik, through his proxy Narendra got the premature retirement approved for Bhatia on Feb 11, 2025.
Pre-mature Retirement Policy & Guidelines in SAIL
In 2016, SAIL included a clause 4.0(3) titled “Periodical review for ensuring probity and efficacy among employees” in its CDA rules. While inserting the above clause in the CDA rules no procedural guidelines were announced. It merely said that detailed procedural guidelines for carrying out the review of employees at Plant/Unit level as well as for constitution of committees will be issued with the approval of Chairman, SAIL.
Bhatia being an upright, dedicated, honest and committed officer, SAIL management was amply clear that it would not be possible to throw him out of the company through legal means. Therefore, SAIL management rushed to frame the operating guidelines immediately after he exposed the mammoth corruption in SAIL on Nov 17, 2022. The guidelines dated Dec 07, 2022 were brought into force on Jan 01, 2023.
With the issuance of the operating guidelines, the management started the wicked and evil journey to give two major penalties pronounced by an interested party Sanjay Agrawal (samdhi of M C Agrawal) on the basis of FAKE charges & FALSE inquiry reports of the IO Munish Ahuja who was also an interested party in the corruption exposed by Bhatia. At the same time, again to perfectly fit him in the operating guidelines, the management also gave two ‘C’ Grades to Bhatia in the annual appraisals of 2022-23 & 2023-24. It is noteworthy that never before Bhatia was rated ‘C’ Grade in his entire career of over 28 years.
We feel our journalistic duty to inform you that it was Bhatia only who being a graduate from IIT Delhi with a B.Tech degree in Civil Engineering, developed a number of training modules to promote these new products - Parallel flange sections which were launched by SAIL in 2016 from its two new mills at DSP & ISP. Bhatia conducted over 22 lecture/training workshops and trained over 330 officers of SAIL. Over 27 lectures were delivered at the premises of major infrastructure companies. In addition, lectures were delivered by Bhatia at IIT Madras; SRM University, Chennai; IIT, Jammu; Delhi Technological University, Delhi; IIEST Shibpur; NIT Durgapur; IIT Kharagpur; HBTU, Kanpur; IIT Kanpur; MANIT, Bhopal; NIT Trichy; NIT Rourkela; NIT Jamshedpur; Assam Engineering College, Guwahati; IIT Guwahati; NIT, Uttarakhand.
For making SAIL SeQR a big success, it was again Bhatia who prepared a 136-page Manual for Training Workshops for Area Sales Officers (ASOs) and Masons and conducted a few initial workshops himself.
10 others were also given Pre-mature Retirement on Feb 11, 2025
Was the list drafted & dictated by the Ministry of Steel?
So that it does not look to public that the Whistle Blower has been isolated for exposing the corruption, SAIL added 10 more officers to the pre-mature retirement list and approved it on Feb 11, 2025.
Many of the officers who have given Pre-mature Retirement have got only one minor penalty and have not got two ‘C’ Grades in the preceding 4 years. Even though not fitting in the criteria formulated in the operating guidelines, they officials have been pre-maturely retired.
In most of the cases including the case of the Whistle Blower Rajeev Bhatia the proposing committee has clearly mentioned “No Doubtful Integrity” but still Pre-mature Retirement has been given to them as part of the larger ill motive & hidden agenda.
In addition, in none of the cases the entire service record of officers has been considered which is not only mandatory as per the policy and it is also settle by law on numerous occasions.
Although policy has the provision of quarterly review, but since the Jan 01, 2023; the date from which the policy dated Dec 07, 2022 was brought into force, only once the same has been invoked with the maiden purpose of getting rid of the Whistle Blower.
New guidelines for Premature Retirement
Having burnt hands with the Guidelines dated Dec 07, 2022 which were brought in hurry to target the Whistle Blower, a Revised Procedural Guidelines for Periodic Review of Employees in SAIL have been issued on Nov 12, 2025. In the new guidelines those who get ‘B’ Grade have also been brought under the ambit of Premature Retirement and opened the floodgates for further nepotism & favouritism in giving Premature Retirement to those who are not “Yes Men” or who do not toe “anti-SAIL” line of SAIL management as we have seen in the case of The Whistle Blower Rajeev Bhatia.
Grade distribution and Veto Power
The EPMS (Employee Performance Management System) of SAIL mandates 40% ‘B’ Grades and 10% ‘C’ Grades which means that 50% of the officers invariably fall under the ambit of Premature Retirement.
The lethal Premature Retirement guidelines become more opaque, obnoxious and deadly when they are coupled with the “VETO POWER” available to the PMC (Performance Management Committee) to downgrade and upgrade the Grade earned by the officer in the primary grading exercise. It has been gathered that PMC downgrades/upgrades the grades without assigning any reason whatsoever. Till now this “VETO POWER” gave complete freedom to SAIL to only destroy the careers of officers who do not toe their “anti-SAIL” line but now this “VETO POWER” would be openly used to throw self-esteemed & non-sycophant officers out of SAIL by giving them Premature Retirement.
Like Transfers, Grades are also distributed purely on the whims and fancies through unlimited unchecked power and in most of the cases it has no correlation to the marks earned. Outside influence also plays a vital role in getting good grades. Like Transfers, Grades in the annual appraisals are often used as a “Tool” to settle personal scores with officers. Over the years, it has generated a large number of “sub servient yes-men” in the system who are engaged day & night in pleasing the bosses and draw handsome salary for the same also. In a way it can be said that they have become totally useless for the growth of the organisation and are the real dead wood. However, they would be retained and upright officers would be thrown out through his new tool called “Premature Retirement”.
Unless the process of distributing Grades in the Annual Appraisals is made entirely transparent & scientific, the tool of snatching livelihood from employees would be like “A Razor in the Hands of a Monkey”. Dead Woods would remain and Verdant Woods would be removed.
Huge sums paid to lawyers/advocates/counsels: Misue of “Public Money”: An act defying “Public Interest”
Earlier we have seen how SAIL CMD spent about Rs 70 Lacs of “Public Money” for engaging lawyers/advocates/counsels to defend officers who are facing corruption charges before LOKPAL of India. SAIL again is seen wasting huge sums of “Public Money” to defend the illegal & unlawful pre-mature retirement orders issued to take revenge from the Whistle Blower.
Key Question: If CMD SAIL had to spend the money from his own pocket, had he indulged in first issuing and then defending such baseless and indefensible pre-mature retirement orders
Who should have been given Premature Retirement in “Public Interest” by invoking FR 56(j)? You decide.
(The above article has been written based on extensive research and inputs from various sources including sources from SAIL)
Must Read:
SAIL PROJECT SCAM: FAKE PROJECTS felling; TMT still selling
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/sail-project-scam-fake-projects-felling-tmt-still-selling
SAIL Whistle Blower’s Premature Retirement : SAIL and Ministry join hands to unlawfully invoked Rule 56(j) to take revenge on Rajeev Bhatia
SAIL Vigil Mechanism: A Fancy Policy; Merely a Showpiece with Zero Statutory Compliance
Suspension of the Whistle Blower: A weapon to accelerate & intensify corruption
Does Steel Secretary cover up rampant corruption?
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/does-steel-secretary-cover-up-rampant-corruption
Corruption in SAIL: Role of Steel Secretary Under Scanner
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/corruption-in-sail-role-of-steel-secretary-under-scanner
SAIL PROJECT SCAM and WHISTLE BLOWER’S Inquiry Officer
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/sail-project-scam-and-whistle-blowers-inquiry-officer
SAIL-ED: Sanjay Agrawal: An undisciplined disciplinary authority
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/sail-ed-sanjay-agrawal-an-undisciplined-disciplinary-authority
How SAIL Director (Comm) snatches livelihood of ‘Whistle Blower’ after he unearthed rampant corruption in company’s interest!
(The above article has been written based on extensive research and inputs from various sources including sources from SAIL)
