Compassionate appointments: Chandigarh rolls out merit-based scheme

Time of India

4 hours ago

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh administration unveiled the merit-based 'Compassionate Appointment Scheme' to grant appointments on compassionate grounds to a dependent family member of a govt servant who dies in harness or retires on medical grounds.
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This scheme aims to support families left in penury and without any means of livelihood, relieving them from financial destitution and helping them overcome emergencies, reports Munieshwer Sagar.
To achieve the scheme's objective, centralisation/grouping of 5% vacancies under the direct recruitment quota across all departments of the Chandigarh administration against Group C will be carried out. This will enable the administration to provide compassionate appointments to needy applicants at the earliest possible opportunity against such vacancies.
For effective implementation, three sections have been constituted — a sub-committee at the department level, a dedicated compassionate cell under the personnel department, and an apex committee constituted under the chairmanship of the senior-most IAS officer below the chief secretary.
Conditions for appointment
If any spouse (either husband or wife of the deceased govt employee) in the family is in regular govt service, then compassionate appointment shall not ordinarily be given to dependents.
Likewise, if any brother or sister of a deceased unmarried govt employee in the family is in regular govt service, then compassionate appointment shall not ordinarily be given to dependents.
"Transparency and objectivity are the foremost aspects of the scheme for compassionate appointment. A holistic assessment of the financial condition of the family has to be made, taking into consideration factors like the presence of earning member(s), size of the family, and financial needs of the family," said a senior UT official.
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Departments of the Chandigarh administration shall not make appointments on compassionate grounds, in the future, at their own level.
Point-based Merit System
To ensure transparency, the administration has developed a system of allocating points for various attributes based on a hundred-point scale. This allows the merits of the cases to be conveniently decided by allocating points to the applicants based on various attributes.
In cases where the wife of the deceased official has applied for compassionate appointment for herself, she shall receive 15 additional points as grace points, in line with the general principle that the widow needs to be given preference for compassionate appointment.
The date of death of the deceased govt employee will be given first preference (e.g., an applicant related to a deceased govt employee, whose date of death comes first, will be given preference over another applicant).
The process for considering various applications and recommending individual applicants for compassionate appointments will be carried out through a Departmental Sub-Committee (at the department level), a dedicated Compassionate Cell, and an Apex Committee.
The Apex Committee shall make its recommendation for appointment on compassionate grounds as per the total points obtained by each applicant under the aforementioned point-based merit system.
The minutes of each meeting of the Apex Committee, including the merit points earned by each applicant, should also be placed, within four weeks from the date of the meeting, in the public domain on the website of the Chandigarh Administration for the information of all concerned.
The final recommendations of the Apex Committee will be placed before the Chief Secretary for consideration and approval.
Box: 100 Point Scale (allocation of points to various attributes)
Family Pension: Points ranging from 6 to 20 based on family pension slabs (6 points for Rs 28,001 and above; and 20 points for up to Rs 10,000).
Terminal Benefits: Points ranging from 1 to 10 based on terminal benefits slabs.
Immovable Property Held: Points ranging from 0 to 10 based on immovable/movable property held in the name of family members (0 points for property above 30,00,00; and 10 points for nil property).