2nd extension: Day after Punjab CM diktat, 2 ex-officials hired

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 4

The Water Resources Department today announced re-employment of two retired engineers in violation of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s orders issued yesterday that no person would be given an extension in government service beyond the age of superannuation at 58 years.

The orders for re-employment of the two superintending engineers — Jasinder Singh Bhandari in Ludhiana and Manjit Singh in Amritsar — have been issued by Sarvjit Singh, Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department.

Ensuring continuity of work

The re-employment was necessitated to ensure continuity in the work assigned to them. Also, there is 50% shortage of persons who can fill the posts of superintending engineers as well as executive engineers. We have to get the work done, so these officers have been re-employed. —Sarvjit Singh, Principal secy, Water resources dept

The two officers had earlier been re-employed in April for a period of six months, till September 30. The orders issued now, a copy of which is with The Tribune, say that their re-employment is for a period of another six months till March 2022. This has created a furore in the department, as the junior officers feel that their promotion avenues are being stifled by the successive re-employment of the two officers.

These recruitments are in violation of the orders of the Finance Department (Punjab Civil Services First Amendment Rules) as well as in contravention of the announcement made in the Budget-2020 where the retirement age of all employees was fixed at 58, and it was decided to withdraw the practice of giving extension in service, except in the rarest of rare cases.

The rules state that all Group A, B and C employees will retire at 58 and Group-D at 60, except in cases where the government feels it’s necessary to grant extension in public interest.

The system to re-employ superannuated officers was started by the Akali-BJP government to put off the “burden of clearing dues” of retiring employees for two years.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.