Direct recruitment through the prescribed quota is not a promotion for MACP purposes; prior lower-grade service is excluded.

The applicant was initially appointed as a Khalasi on a temporary basis on 11 April 1988. Within two months, he was appointed as a Skilled Welder on 16 May 1988 against the 25% direct-recruitment quota under paragraph 159(1)(i) of the Indian Railway Establishment Manual, Volume I (IREM).

He was subsequently promoted as Technician Grade II with effect from 24 December 1998 and as Technician Grade I with effect from 1 November 2003.

Claiming that his appointment as Skilled Welder was a direct recruitment and not a promotion, the applicant sought the third financial upgradation under the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme with effect from 1 November 2013, upon completion of ten years in the Technician Grade-I post.

The respondents rejected the claim on the ground that the applicant had already received three financial upgradations, treating his movement from Khalasi to Skilled Welder as a promotion.

The rejection order dated 8 March 2019 was issued in compliance with an earlier Tribunal order dated 25 October 2018 in OA No. 1001 of 2018.

Whether the applicant’s appointment as Skilled Welder under the 25% quota constituted direct recruitment rather than a promotion for the purposes of the MACP Scheme?

Whether, after excluding the service rendered before his direct appointment as Skilled Welder, the applicant was entitled to the third financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme with effect from 1 November 2013?

The Tribunal applied paragraph 159(1)(i) of IREM, which provides for filling Skilled Artisan Grade III posts through selection from Course Completed Act Apprentices and ITI-qualified candidates from the open market, including eligible serving employees.

It also applied clause (i) of Railway Board Establishment Circular No. 100/2012 dated 12 September 2012, which provides that where the relevant recruitment rules permit direct recruitment to a grade, induction through LDCE/GDCE may be treated as direct recruitment for MACP purposes, and past service in a lower pay scale or grade pay shall not be counted.

Accordingly, an appointment through the prescribed direct-recruitment quota is not to be treated as a promotion for computing financial upgradations under the MACP Scheme.

The Tribunal found that the applicant, although already serving as a Khalasi, participated in a recruitment process open both to eligible serving employees and candidates from the open market under the 25% quota prescribed by paragraph 159(1)(i) of IREM.

His appointment as Skilled Welder was therefore an induction through direct recruitment and could not be counted as a promotional financial upgradation.

Applying clause (i) of RBE No. 100/2012, the Tribunal excluded the applicant’s service before his appointment as Skilled Welder and held that he had received only two relevant financial upgradations—Technician Grade II and Technician Grade I—after that direct appointment.

Having completed ten years of regular service from his promotion to Technician Grade I on 1 November 2003, he became entitled to the third MACP financial upgradation from 1 November 2013.

It held that the applicant’s appointment as Skilled Welder was by direct recruitment, not promotion, and directed the respondents to grant him the third MACP benefit with effect from 1 November 2013, along with consequential benefits, pay fixation and arrears, within three months of receiving the certified copy of the order.

No order as to costs was made.