Bhubaneswar Various employee unions and pensioners are now demanding a complete repeal of the 2020 Compassionate Appointment Law, which was enacted during the BJD government’s tenure.
Back in 1990, the state government had introduced a compassionate appointment policy to provide immediate support to the families of government employees who died in service. Under this law, a dependent—based on eligibility—was appointed to a Group C or D post to alleviate financial hardship. Provisions were made for minimum educational qualifications and age limits depending on the situation. The BJD government later amended the law in 2016. However, the new law enacted in 2020 removed several provisions, making many dependents ineligible for such appointments.
While the previous law was still in effect, many compassionate appointments were granted after long delays and multiple reviews. In some cases, even medical board reports declaring widowed wives physically unfit were disregarded, and their children were denied jobs under various pretexts. A committee under the General Administration Department was also mandated to approve such appointments.
Numerous cases were filed from the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) up to the Supreme Court, with appointments only granted after lengthy legal battles and significant expenses incurred by both the government and affected families.
A controversial clause (Clause 9) in the 2020 law stated that applications filed before the enactment of the new law (by families of employees who had died earlier) would be considered under the old laws. However, the judiciary later declared this clause unconstitutional. In the Malayānanda Sethi case, the Supreme Court criticized the state government for delays in appointment and directed it to process the case under the old law, ultimately leading to his appointment in the Excise Department.
Following this, many High Court and Supreme Court judgments directed the state to consider such cases under previous provisions. However, the state government has been challenging these orders, filing hundreds of cases, and incurring massive legal expenses from the public exchequer.
Meanwhile, many dependents—struggling financially after the untimely death of the family’s earning member—have been unable to afford long legal battles or travel to Delhi for justice.
Amid this, the Odisha government, through a notification on April 4, announced a revision allowing dependents of employees who died before the 2020 law came into effect to be appointed under the 1990 or 2016 rules, based on financial hardship. While many organizations have welcomed this move, they continue to urge the government to completely withdraw the 2020 Compassionate Appointment Law.