Maximum Period of Probation Regarding: Does any centrally funded institute (like IIT) has the autonomy to supersede the service rules laid by the Union Government. As per the OM No. 28020/1/2010-Estt(C),Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel & Training), for any candidate selected through direct recruitment and having Grade pay more than 7600, the normal period of probation is 1 year. The OM says that, the Appointing Authority may, if it so thinks fit, extend the period of probation of a Government servant by a specified period but the total period of probation should not exceed double the normal period. This means, for a faculty appointed as Regular Assistant Professor to any of the IITs through direct recruitment and with a grade pay of 8000, the period of probation should not exceed 2 years in any case. But, at IIT Bhubaneswar, this rule has been strongly violated in case of few faculty members. To the best of my knowledge the following three faculty members are victims of such a decision taken by IIT Bhubaneswar administration: 1. Dr. Goutam Mondal, Asst. Professor, School of Infrastructure 2. Dr. Padmalochan Bera, Asst. Professor, School of Electrical Sciences 3. Dr. Debadatta Swain, Asst. Professor, School of Climate, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences These faculty members have already passed more than 3 years in this institute and are still under probation. Extension of probation was notified even after 2 years in some cases. There is no definite guidelines available in the institute, that an employee needs to fulfill in order to clear his/her probation. In absence of this, decisions have been found to be biased/unfair in many cases. It is therefore requested to provide the following documents in this regard: 1. Document, that allows an IIT administration to hold the probation beyond the specified period. 2. Clarification from the institute justifying the extraordinary period of probation in case of these three faculty members. 3. Guidelines/Targets in terms of Academic and Research output, set by the Institute authority for clearing of the probation.