Q: My father was an employee of the Dum Dum Ordnance Factory. He died in September 2004, seven years before his retirement. My mother has received his provident and gratuity funds. I applied for a job in the Ordnance Factory on compassionate grounds as I am the only child of my parents. Thereafter, an official enquiry was conducted by the management and I was asked to submit documents like the valuation certificate of our movable/immovable properties and whether we had any earning member in our family as also the extent of our liability, if any. We complied with those instructions. Subsequently, the management published a list of employees who died while in service along with a list of members of their families who had qualified on the same grounds. I was informed by the management that I had not qualified since our financial condition was better than many others who were given priority. What is the policy of the government of India regarding compassionate appointment? Was the assessment of the management correct? If I have been denied justice, can I take legal action? Please suggest. I am a graduate, looking for a job.
Sudipta Pal
A: Employment on compassionate grounds is given on purely humanitarian considerations and no appointment can be claimed as a matter of right. The main object is to provide immediate financial help to the family of the deceased employee. The general law is that public service appointment should be made strictly on the basis of open invitation of applications and on merit. Appointment on compassionate grounds is an exception to the general rule in view of the death of the employee while in service, leaving his family without any means of livelihood.
The object is to enable the family to get over sudden financial crisis. Appointments on compassionate grounds have to be made in accordance with the rules, regulations or administrative instructions taking into consideration the financial condition of the family of the deceased. Relief against destitution is the primary object of such an appointment. However, against the destitute family of the deceased, there may be several other families which are equally, if not more, destitute. Hence, the employer has to carry out a balancing act and give priority to the more destitute families in so far as compassionate jobs are concerned. In your case, it appears that your deceased father’s employer carried out a detailed investigation regarding the financial condition of the families of several deceased families and has given preference to those families who need such an appointment more than you do.
On the face of it, such a decision cannot be faulted. However, if you are able to demonstrate any glaring irregularity or impropriety in the procedure adopted by the management of the Ordance Factory, you may approach the high court in the writ jurisdiction for appropriate relief. If you can produce sufficient material in support of your contention, the high court may quash the decision of the management and pass appropriate directions to reconsider your application. Please note that my entire advice is based on the assumption that your application for appointment on compassionate grounds was made contemporaneously with or soon after your father’s demise. If such an application is made after inordinate delay, on that ground alone, the application is liable to be rejected because belated application would itself show that your family was not faced with any financial crisis after your father’s demise.
Send your letters to Inlaw at The Telegraph,
Jobs Desk, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street,
Calcutta 700001;
or fax at 225 3142;
or send e-mails to jobs@abpmail.com.
