Guidelines for appointing retired govt officials

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Thursday issued detailed guidelines for appointing retired government servants in its various departments on a temporary basis. According to a resolution issued by the General Administration and Public Grievance department, the State government had in 2014 decided to re-engage retired government officials for various unavoidable reasons and work pressure.

However, it has come to the notice of the government that various departments are engaging retired government employees in a routine manner without justification and merely to deal with routine work. Re-engagement of retired employees has become a rule rather than an exception, the General Administration and Public Grievance department said.

Considering the situation and with a view to ensuring a uniform principle, the government has decided to repeal the resolution issued in 2014 and issued fresh guidelines for the engagement of retired public servants. According to the guidelines, retired government officers who are below the age of 65 years, have good service records and are physically fit, can be eligible to be considered for re-employment.

Officers against whom departmental proceedings or criminal cases are pending or who have been penalised for misconduct in the preceding five years, shall not be considered for post-retirement appointment.

According to the guidelines, officers having “outstanding” confidential character rolls (CCRs) for continuous 60 months before retirement can only be considered for re-engagement. Such re-engagement shall be limited to 1 per cent of the sanctioned strength of the cadre concerned for respective departments.

To choose retired employees, a selection committee will be formed under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary. After approval of the panel, it will be sent to the Chief Minister for his consideration and approval.

The re-employment would be made initially for a period of one year and can be extended for subsequent periods of three years with spells of one year each, subject to satisfactory performance, up to a total period of four years not beyond 65 years of age.