HC warns strict action if eligible people are denied jobs on compassionate basis
The Bombay High Court, earlier this month, ordered the Maharashtra government to properly implement its policy of granting jobs on a compassionate basis. The bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Sanjay Mehare warned of strict action against the state authorities if they fail to grant jobs to eligible people.
The bench was hearing two petitions, one by Yogita Nikam, 35, and the other by Sachin Suryavanshi, 32. Both sought jobs on a compassionate basis in schools at Jalgaon and Nanded, respectively. Nikam sought a job in place of her deceased husband. Suryavanshi sought a job in place of his late father. However, the education officers at Jalgaon and Nanded refused to approve their appointment.
The bench noted that both Yogita and Sachin were eligible for the appointments. However, the education officers (at Jalgaon and Nanded) refused it and cited various government resolutions. "Time and again, we have dealt with cases in which compassionate appointments have been made and approval is denied or the appointment itself is refused on the grounds that (i) there is a ban on fresh recruitment to fill up vacant posts, (ii) status quo is ordered by the state, or (iii) compassionate appointment cannot be made since it has to be verified whether the post is available," the bench noted. "But not a single order passed by this court has been placed before us, which would indicate that this court has concluded that the moment a permanent employee dies in harness, the permanent post occupied by him will either extinguish or stand abolished or that it can be treated as being a vacancy to be affected by a ban on recruitment," the judges said.
Referring to the various orders of the Supreme Court as well as the HC, the bench observed, "A family that is rendered to the comforts of life, with a bread earner in the family, is shaken up with the death of such a bread earner. This virtually throws the family into a financial crisis." "The purpose for which compassionate appointment schemes have been introduced is laudable,” it added.