CHENNAI: It is time the Tamil Nadu government reviewed its compassionate appointment scheme under which legal heirs of deceased government employees are provided job, the Madras high court has observed.
The scheme must be reviewed in a way that it provides employment only to deserving families and officials should ensure that abuse of the scheme by others is checked, Justice S M Subramaniam said. “If the ratio of compassionate appointment increases, undoubtedly, the efficiency in public administration would be lost,” he added while dismissing a plea moved by G Anita seeking appointment under compassionate ground as her husband had died while in service in 2009. The court rejected her plea on the ground that her husband was a temporary employee.
“In the opinion of this court, the scheme of compassionate appointment has to be restricted only to genuine and more deserving families after conducting thorough inquiry regarding the indigent circumstances,” the judge said.
As of now, the practice prevailing in government departments is that tahsildars issue indigent certificates without conducting proper field inquiries. Such appointments are provided by the competent authorities on many occasions on the basis of extraneous considerations. Such illegal and irregular practices have to be controlled and the government is bound to look into the seriousness involved in public employment under constitutional schemes and initiate all appropriate steps to review the scheme of compassionate appointment, he added.
Noting that the very purpose of the scheme of compassionate appointment is to mitigate the circumstances arising on account of sudden death of an employee, the judge said, “As the scheme of compassionate appointment is being in force for several years and now, it is being abused or misused by several persons, despite the fact that they are having sources of income. In this context, the government is bound to reconsider the entire scheme of compassionate appointment and initiate all appropriate actions.”
The scheme must be reviewed in a way that it provides employment only to deserving families and officials should ensure that abuse of the scheme by others is checked, Justice S M Subramaniam said. “If the ratio of compassionate appointment increases, undoubtedly, the efficiency in public administration would be lost,” he added while dismissing a plea moved by G Anita seeking appointment under compassionate ground as her husband had died while in service in 2009. The court rejected her plea on the ground that her husband was a temporary employee.
“In the opinion of this court, the scheme of compassionate appointment has to be restricted only to genuine and more deserving families after conducting thorough inquiry regarding the indigent circumstances,” the judge said.
As of now, the practice prevailing in government departments is that tahsildars issue indigent certificates without conducting proper field inquiries. Such appointments are provided by the competent authorities on many occasions on the basis of extraneous considerations. Such illegal and irregular practices have to be controlled and the government is bound to look into the seriousness involved in public employment under constitutional schemes and initiate all appropriate steps to review the scheme of compassionate appointment, he added.
Noting that the very purpose of the scheme of compassionate appointment is to mitigate the circumstances arising on account of sudden death of an employee, the judge said, “As the scheme of compassionate appointment is being in force for several years and now, it is being abused or misused by several persons, despite the fact that they are having sources of income. In this context, the government is bound to reconsider the entire scheme of compassionate appointment and initiate all appropriate actions.”
