Compassionate Appointment Rules
*Vacancies in deptts yet to be reserved as per GoI norms
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 3: Notwithstanding the immediate necessity of bringing changes in the light of judgments of the Supreme Court and well-structured scheme being followed at the Government of India level, a panel of bureaucrats has failed to meet the deadline fixed by the Chief Secretary for making recommendations in order to carry out amendments in the Compassionate Appointment Rules.
Moreover, vacancies in each Government Department of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are yet to be reserved for settlement of SRO-43 cases strictly in accordance with the Government of India (GoI) norms.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that in a high-level meeting held on August 4, 2021, the Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta held detailed deliberations with Principal Secretary, Home Department, Commissioner/ Secretary, General Administration Department and Secretary, Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on implementation of SRO-43 of 1994.
In the meeting, the issue of determination of ‘element of compassion’ in SRO-43 cases was discussed in detail and the Chief Secretary was apprised about the ‘point based relative merit scheme’ being followed in the Government of India, which is a more structured and rational process.
During the discussion the need of implementing the Apex Court judgments on compassionate appointment in Government service was also felt and accordingly, it was decided to review the entire process of compassionate appointment by factoring in the Apex Court judgments in the Rules.
The task was assigned to a committee comprising Principal Secretary, Home Department, Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department and Secretary, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Department.
The Chief Secretary directed the committee to revisit SRO-43 and suggest amendments in the Compassionate Appointment Rules. “Peculiar circumstances of J&K where special consideration has to be given to the cases of martyrs and practice followed in the Government of India shall be kept in consideration while framing the report”, Dr Mehta had told the committee in clear terms.
Moreover, the committee was asked to propose time period within which applications under SRO-43 will be considered and an exception will be made for settlement of cases of martyrs while prescribing the time limit. The committee was told to furnish its recommendations within a period of 30 days.
“The deadline fixed by the Chief Secretary is already over but the panel of bureaucrats has not submitted its recommendations/ report to the Government”, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “the committee has met twice but has not reached to any final conclusion so far and because of this the plans of the Government with regard to carrying out amendments in the Compassionate Appointment Rules will not fructify in near future”.
Further, General Administration Department has yet not completed the exercise of obtaining data on appointments made under SRO-43 during the last 10 years, which otherwise is imperative to propose a fixed percentage of vacancies to be reserved in each department for settlement of SRO-43 cases taking into account the Government of India norms.
“Even Management Information System is yet to be developed for monitoring/tracking SRO-43 cases at the Union Territory, Divisional and District Level although the same is imperative for transparency at every level”, sources said.
About the provisions under SRO-43 which will allow appointment for Next of Kin of civilians who got killed in militancy related incidents, sources said, “this provision may not be strictly in consonance with the Apex Court judgments on compassionate appointment as such Committee has been asked to explore the possibility of restricting this provision to financial assistance in such cases”.
“As far as pending cases under SRO-255, which pertains to the compassionate appointment of Next of Kin of police martyrs, is concerned, the Chief Secretary has already issued directions that all the cases under this SRO which are clear be disposed of expeditiously”, sources said.
“It seems that either the Government fixes unrealistic timeframe for completion of task by the committees of bureaucrats or the panels don’t take interest to ensure strict adherence to the deadlines and ultimately the vital issues get delayed”, sources said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
