HP: Families of deceased staff urge govt to clear pending appointments

Families of deceased govt employees in Himachal Pradesh protested, urging the state to clear pending compassionate appointment cases. They demand faster processing for screened applicants and a uniform Rs 3 lakh income ceiling for rejected cases.

Families awaiting compassionate appointments in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday urged the state government to clear long-pending cases, fast-track appointments already cleared through screening, and extend a uniform annual-income ceiling of Rs 3 lakh to rejected applicants, saying delays risk making many eligible dependants overage.

A delegation of approximately 250 to 300 applicants and family members from across the state reached the Himachal Pradesh Secretariat on the day of a Cabinet meeting to press their demands. The applicants are dependants of government employees who died while in service, either in accidents or other circumstances, and are seeking employment as relief under the compassionate-appointment policy.

Thousands of cases pending

Ajay Kumar, president of the Himachal Pradesh Karunamoolak Sangh, said thousands of cases concerning dependants of deceased employees in government departments, boards, corporations and universities remained pending. “About 3,500 cases were pending when the Congress government came to power. After around three-and-a-half years, the government gave some relief in 2025 by raising the income limit from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh and removing the per-cap provision,” Kumar said.

He said the revised income criterion was applicable for only three months and that about 1,200 applicants cleared the screening process during that period. Of them, around 450 candidates had secured Class-III appointments, he said, while the remaining cases were progressing slowly.

Kumar said many of the pending candidates were eligible for Class-III and Class-IV posts. He said Class-IV appointments, earlier made on daily-wage positions such as peon or chowkidar, were now proposed under the multi-task worker category.

However, he said compassionate appointments to multi-task worker posts could begin only after the state released the relevant policy, which he alleged was pending with the Finance Department. “The policy is stuck in the Finance Department. The government should release it at the earliest so that the nearly 1,200 selected cases can receive employment within a month,” Kumar said.

He added that if the process initiated in 2025 was accelerated, at least 800 applicants could receive joining orders within a month.

Relief sought for rejected cases

The association also sought relief for applicants whose cases had earlier been rejected. Kumar said the state government had decided on July 1, 2026, to reconsider rejected compassionate-appointment cases, but a notification making the annual income ceiling a flat Rs 3 lakh for such applicants had not yet been issued.

He put the number of rejected cases at roughly 2,200 to 2,300, though he said the number of cases likely to receive immediate relief under a revised income criterion could be around 1,000. “We want the income ceiling for rejected cases also to be fixed at a flat Rs 3 lakh. This could allow about 1,000 people to be screened this year and enable their appointment process to begin, with jobs expected by January or February,” he said.

Kumar said the overall number of pending compassionate-appointment cases stood at around 2,500 to 3,000. If the 2025-screened cases were processed quickly and rejected cases were reconsidered under the Rs 3 lakh ceiling, about 1,800 families could receive relief, he said.

Applicants risk becoming overage due to delays

The association warned that continuing delays could render many applicants ineligible because of age restrictions. Kumar said at least 120 applicants across departments, boards and corporations were already above 45 years of age.

“Because of flawed policies and delays, around 120 cases have crossed the age of 45. If employment is not provided in time, they will become overage and be excluded altogether,” he said.

He said several compassionate-appointment cases had remained pending for 15 to 20 years and urged the Chief Minister to take a decision in the Cabinet meeting. “We have come with hope that the government will take a positive decision. The Chief Minister must take some decision in the Cabinet today so that these bereaved families receive relief at the earliest,” he said.

Anita Sharma, one of the candidates seeking appointment on compassionate grounds, said the state should immediately approve the proposed uniform income limit for rejected cases and speed up processing of applications already found eligible in the 2025 screening exercise. “Our first demand is that the rejected cases should also receive the benefit of a flat Rs 3 lakh income ceiling. I request the Chief Minister to approve this agenda in today’s Cabinet meeting,” Sharma said.

She said applicants whose cases cleared screening in 2025 were facing uncertainty because their files continued to remain on hold. “We are standing in the same queue. When we are repeatedly told that our case is on hold, it causes deep disappointment. Our age is increasing, and in a year or a year-and-a-half many of us will also cross 45,” Sharma said.

She appealed to the government to provide relief to candidates whose cases had passed screening before they became age-barred. “We have come with a positive frame of mind and expect that the Chief Minister and the entire Cabinet will not send us back disappointed,” she said.(ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)