The Odisha government released detailed guidelines for the temporary appointment of retired government officers to its various departments on Thursday. Re-engaging retired workers is becoming the norm rather than the exception, according to the public grievance and general administration departments.
The general administration and public grievance department issued a resolution stating that the state government made the decision to re-engage retired government officials in 2014 due to various unavoidable circumstances and job pressure. The administration has become aware, nevertheless, that a number of ministries are routinely using retired government employees to undertake mundane tasks without any kind of explanation.
In light of the circumstances and in an effort to establish a consistent policy, the government has chosen to revoke the 2014 resolution and provide new instructions regarding the involvement of retired public personnel.
What are the new rules?
Retired government personnel who are physically healthy, have good service records, and are under 65 years of age may be given consideration for reemployment, per the rules. No consideration for post-retirement appointment will be given to officers who are the subject of departmental proceedings, ongoing criminal charges, or who have been disciplined for misconduct within the last five years.
In addition to this, officers having outstanding confidential character rolls (CCRs) for continuous 60 months before retirement can only be considered for re-engagement. Notedly, such re-engagement shall be limited to 1 per cent of the sanctioned strength of the concerned cadre for respective departments.
A selection committee headed by the chief secretary will be established to choose retired personnel. It will be forwarded to the chief minister for review and approval following the panel’s approval. Subject to successful performance, the reemployment would begin for a one-year period and be extended for consecutive periods of three years with one-year intervals, for a total of four years, not to exceed the age of 65.
(with PTI inputs)