Army chief age: Others too wanted birth date changed

All have sought a change that would make them younger than recorded,none has succeeded so far.

While the controversy over Army Chief General V K Singhs age hit national headlines,there are other senior government officers who have challenged the date of birth in their records. All have sought a change that would make them younger than recorded,none has succeeded so far.

Over a dozen IAS and IPS officers requested the correction in dates,on grounds such as chance recovery of municipal records/horoscopes as well as statements given by village chowkidars. However,the authorities have so far refused to oblige,citing service rules. As per All India Service Rules,The Date of Birth,as accepted by the Central Government,shall not be subject to any alteration except where it is established that a bona fide clerical mistake has been committed.

Documents obtained by The Indian Express through RTI show Punjab IPS officer Varinder Kumar wanted his date of birth changed to September 16,1966,from July 26,1965. Having tried official channels,he finally requested MP Manish Tewari to take up his case with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

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In July 2009,Chidambaram wrote to Tewari,saying the matter was examined in the light of statutory provisions of the relevant rules/regulations on the subject. The request of the officer could not be accorded to as it was not covered under the rules. Kumar then appealed to the President of India,who forwarded it to the Home Ministry. The ministry reiterated its earlier decision.

Another officer who wanted his date of birth changed is K L Prasad,a 1982-batch Maharashtra-cadre IPS officer. While the Maharashtra government cleared the change from April 5,1955,to April 15,1956 the Department of Personnel and Training rejected it.

The case of another Maharashtra-cadre IPS officer,

S S Salunke,is under the DoPT scanner. The government had rejected Salunkes application to change his date of birth from May 2,1956,to September 1960 (he didnt specify the date).

R K Khandelwal,a 1953- batch IPS officer,discovered an error in his date of birth just a few months before his retirement. He sought a minor change to November 19,1929,from May 5,1929,saying: My janmapatri (horoscope) helped me trace municipal records about the place and date of my birth. The Home Ministry,however,felt the authenticity of the new date couldnt be established. Khandelwal retired in 1987.

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IPS officers Srinivasa Reddy,H N Nagarale and M Ramchandran have moved the Central Administrative Tribunal and high courts with their similar requests. The ministry is still considering the case of Tamil Nadu IPS officer S Rajendran. According to the officer,my father was illiterate and wrongly entered my DoB… as January 15,1956,instead of January 15,1959.

Kelhousithie Kire,a 1979-batch IPS officer,had requested a change to December 16,1953,from December 16,1951,citing a clerical error.

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