Central Secretariat Service officers defer 'peace march' following Centre's assurance

New Delhi: The Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officers deferred their peace march scheduled for Wednesday following the Centre's assurance of providing the earliest resolution to their demand, an association representing them said.

The CSS officers had planned the march to protest against the delay in the submission of a report by a cadre review committee, which has hampered their promotions, according to the CSS Forum -- an association of the CSS officers.

"Before this peace march, today a meeting was called upon by the higher authority of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) with CSS Forum members. The meeting happened in a very positive environment and the DoPT has assured that they are looking into the genuine concerns of the CSS officers and will work promptly on the cadre review matter," it said in a statement.

The DoPT also assured the officials concerned to take necessary action on each and every grievance of the CSS officers, the statement said.

"The decision of the government was communicated to 4,000 CSS officers, who were present during the peaceful gathering at North Block on Wednesday and the CSS officers unanimously decided to put on hold the peace march for the time being," it added.

The CSS officers assured that they will continue working for the service of the nation, the statement said.

The Central government constituted a high-level cadre review committee (CRC) on October 27, 2022, to assess the rising demand for manpower across various ministries/departments, keeping in view the increasing number of schemes and projects of the government.

The CSS officers are demanding that the submission and implementation of the report of the CRC be expedited.

The sanctioned strength of the CSS officers considered the backbone of the Central government working, is 13,016, according to the latest data.