NEW DELHI: Taking note of security lapses involving contractual employees in the government departments and ministries, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has asked its officers to ensure that “unauthorised persons” or non-regular staff don’t get access to any confidential documents and sensitive information.
In a note to all senior officers including additional secretaries, joint secretaries, directors and heads of attached or subordinate offices, the ministry instructed officers to strictly adhere to the departmental security instructions and provisions of the Manual of Office Procedure while handling sensitive documents and secret information.
All the officers have also been asked to issue appropriate directions for compliance with the instructions. The ministry officials said that instructions had come after security agencies found the disclosure of sensitive documents and covert information to ‘outside elements’ by the contractual employees of the government department and ministries.
“Such cases highlight the violation of security guidelines wherein contractual employees have gained access to classified documents... It may be ensured that unauthorised persons/ contractual employees employed in your office do not have access to any classified documents, secret or sensitive information,” read the note.
Recently, a contractual employee with the Ministry of Finance was arrested from Ghaziabad for allegedly possessing and supplying official secrets to a contact.
The police reportedly found a 61-page official document in his possession. In January, the Crime Branch of Delhi arrested a contractual employee of the Ministry of Finance under the same charges. The accused worked as a data entry operator and shared confidential information with foreign-based operatives.
In November 2022, a multi-tasking staffer working with the Ministry of external affairs (MEA) was handed over to the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch. The allegations were that he was supplying classified information to a Pakistani intelligence officer.
After the ministry’s note pertaining to the involvement of contractual employees in revealing clandestine details to outsiders, its departments and agencies have swung into action and issued alerts to their respective officers.
