16.1 RECORDS OF SERVICE
16.1.1 The Service Book of a Government servant is a document to record all the events in his/ her entire service period and career recording each and every administrative action qua the Government servant right from the stage of his recruitment till his retirement to reflect the history of service of
a Government employee (SR 199).
16.1.2. Such a Service Book is to be maintained for a Government servant from the date of his/her first appointment to Government service and it must be kept in the custody of the Head of Office in which he is serving and transferred with him from office to office (SR 198).
16.1.3 The Service Book of a Government employee is required to be maintained in a prescribed form and the same is required to be maintained in duplicate. The first copy shall be retained by the respective Head of Office and the second copy shall be given to the Government servant for
safe custody. A revised format has been prescribed vide O.M.
No.17011/1/99-Estt.(L) dated 11 March, 2008 th . 16.1.4 The Part I of the prescribed format of the Service Book is required to reflect the Bio data of the employee concerned, which may include the
following details:
a) Date of Birth [Refer to para 16.2 below]
b) Whether the Government servant belongs to Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class
c) Educational Qualifications at the time of first appointment
16.1.5. The instructions for maintenance of Service Book, which is part of the format states that the entries in this part will be made at the time of first appointment of the government servant and attested by the Head of Office or any other officer duly authorized in this behalf. Additions and alterations in this part are also to be similarly attested.
16.1.6. The Part II A of the prescribed format includes entries of the following certifications in respect of a Government employee:
a) Medical Examination - The original medical certificate has been kept in safe custody in Vol. II of the Service Book.
b) Character & Antecedents – The verification report is to be retained in safe custody in Vol. II of the Service Book.
c) Marital Status - It is required to be certified that the Government employee concerned has furnished declaration regarding her/his not 176 having contracted bigamous marriage and the relevant declaration is also to be retained in of Vol. II of the Service Book.
d) Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution also forms part of the said Part of the Service Book with the same being retained in Vol. II of the Service Book
e) Declaration of Home Town is also required to be made by the Government employee concerned and the same also being retained in Vol. II of the Service Book
16.1.7. The said part also contains a certification of the competent authority that correctness of the entries against S. No. 5-8 of Part I—“Bio-data” has been verified from original certificates considered as valid documentary evidence for the respective purposes. Attested copies of these certificates have been filed in Vol. II of the Service Book.
16.1.8. The Part II A of the prescribed format includes entries of the following certifications in respect of a Government employee:
a) Family Particulars with due certification that the Government servant concerned, has furnished the details of the family members which have been filed in Vol.II of the Service book.
b) Nomination for Central Govt. Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS) with similar certification as indicated above.
16.1.9. The instructions for maintenance of Service Book, which is part of the format states that the first seven certificates in Part II-A of the format will be recorded at the time of initial appointment of the government servant and the last entry at the appropriate stage. All these entries are not subject
to change/revision subsequently. Further, the declarations, nominations and related notices like change of nomination for GPF, D.C.R Gratuity, Family Pension, Central Government Employees Insurance Scheme and Leave Encashment, testimonials and other documents referred to and
relied upon in this part will be kept in Vol. II of the service book of the government servant and will be retained by the Head of Office for safe custody.
16.1.10. The declarations of Government servants electing the scales of pay and statements showing the fixation of initial pay in the relevant scales of pay in support of the entries in the Service Books should be pasted in the Service Books. The GPF Account Number allotted to the Government
Servant should be entered on the right hand top of page 1 of the Service Book.
16.1.11. Each entry in the Service Book is to be attested by the Head of Office, or if he himself is the Head of Office, by his immediate superior. The Head of Offices are permitted to delegate to subordinate Gazetted Officers under them powers to attest entries in Service Book. Such
subordinate Gazetted Officers are also authorized to keep these documents in their custody and to attest entries in the leave account.
16.1.12. At a fixed time early in the year, the Service Books shall be taken up for verification by the Head of Office who, after satisfying himself that the services of the government servant concerned are correctly recorded in each of the Service Book shall record in each case a certificate in
prescribed form (SR 202 read with GFR 257).
16.1.13 In January each year, the Government servant shall hand over his copy of the Service Book to his office for updation. The office shall update and return it to the Government servant within thirty days of its receipt. In case the Government servant’s copy is lost by the Government servant, it
shall be replaced on payment of a sum of Rs.500/-. (GFR 257)
16.1.14 Service Book must be shown to the Government servants every year and their signatures obtained therein in token of their having inspected the Service Book. In the case of a Government Servant on foreign service, his signature shall be obtained in his Service Book after the Audit Officer
(P&AO, as the case may be), has made therein necessary entries connected to his foreign service in terms of provisions of SR 203.
16.1.15 On a Government servant completing eighteen years of service or on his being left with five years of service before the date of retirement, whichever is earlier, the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer shall, in accordance with the rules for the time being in force, verify
the service rendered by such a Government servant, determine the qualifying service and communicate to him, in Form 24, the period of qualifying service so determined. [Rule 32 of CCS (Pension) Rules].
16.2 DATE OF BIRTH
16.2.1 Every person newly appointed to a service or a post under Government shall, at the time of the appointment, declare the date of birth by the Christian era with confirmatory documentary evidence such as a Matriculation Certificate, where prescribed qualification for appointment is Matriculation or above. In other cases Municipal Birth Certificate or Certificate from the recognised school last attended shall be treated as a valid document.
GFR 256
The Date of Birth of the Government employee gets a mention in Note 6 under Fundamental Rule 56 regulating the age of retirement of the employee. It states that the date on which a Government servant attains the age of fifty-eight years or sixty years (or any other age of retirement prescribed by the Government)) shall be determined with reference to the date of birth declared by the Government servant at the time of appointment and accepted by the Appropriate Authority on production of,
as far as possible, a confirmatory documentary evidence such as High School or Higher Secondary or Secondary School Certificate or extracts from Birth Register.
16.2.2 Alteration in the date of birth can be made by Government servant only within five years of his entry into Government service, with the sanction of a Ministry or Department of the Central Government etc. subject to the following conditions.
a) A request in this regard is made within five years of his entry into Government service;
b) It is clearly established that a genuine bona fide mistake has occurred; and
c) The date of birth so altered would not make him ineligible to appear in any school or University or Union Public Service Commission examination in which he had appeared, or for an entry into
Government service on the date on which he first appeared at such examination or on the date on which he entered Government service.
The Government policy regarding rejection of belated claim for alteration in date of birth is reinforced by the observations made by the Supreme Court in the judgment in Civil Appeal No.502 of 1993
(Union of India Vs. Harnam Singh).
DoP&T O.M.No.19017/7/792-Estt (A) dated 30th November, 1979 and
DoP&T O.M.No.19017/2/92-Estt (A) dated 19th May, 1993
