All India Services (Conduct) Rules amended upon NHRC’s directions

The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 have been amended by the Central Government to prohibit the employment of children below the age of 14 years as domestic servants by Government servants employed in the All India Services, namely the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service. This has been done upon the recommendation and insistence of the National Human Rights Commission.

The Commission had observed that employing children below and up to the age of 14 years for work by anyone was reprehensible, more so by any Government servant. It had thus directed that an appropriate Rule be included in the Conduct Rules of the Government servants by both Central and State, which while prohibiting such employment would also make it a misconduct, inviting a major penalty. The Commission had been pursuing this matter with the Centre and the States since February 1997. The then Chairperson of the Commission had written to the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, on this subject for the first time on 10 February 1997. He had subsequently written to the Chief Ministers of all States on 3 March 1997.

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension had, therefore, finally amended the Central Services (conduct) Rule, 1964 on 4 October 1999. The All India Services (conduct) Rules, 1968 were amended on 1 February 2000. The States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have also amended the Civil Services (Conduct) Rules concerning their employees. The States of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Meghalaya, Orissa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have informed to the Commission that they are still in the process of considering the recommendations of the Commission to amend the Rules. The States of Manipur, Nagaland and Rajasthan are yet to respond to the Commission’s letters written to them in this regard.

The Commission is committed to pursuing this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.