The General Orders, an important document that lays down the terms and conditions of employment for civil servants as well as the systems and processes as it applies to the civil service, is under review.
Public Service Commission permanent secretary Mr Parmesh Chand said the last review of the General Orders was done in 1993.
“So a fair bit of time has lapsed since the last review till now, a lot of changes have happened in terms and conditions of staff as well as the type of allowances paid to civil servants, the orientation of work and the reporting mechanisms and procedures,” Mr Chand said.
“Those changes will need to be capsulated in the review, which is underway.
“We have done the work and it is now in the office of the Solicitor General.
“The examples, which feature in it are things like mileage allowances, relocation allowances, the housing allowance, entitlement of officers, there have been a lot of changes in those areas, leave conditions as well as some elements of code of conduct have been strengthened,” Mr Chand said.
“All these need to be clearly reflected in the General Orders.”
According to Mr Chand, the General Orders document is like a working bible for civil servants.
“It tells us how civil servants, which comprises of about 27,000 need to behave, act and go about doing their jobs by following this manual,” Mr Chand said.
“It also articulates what your obligations are and how you should respond accordingly.”
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