VIJAYAWADA: Describing an order issued by the State government in 1999 stating the family member of an employee cannot get a job on compassionate grounds if the service of the employee is less than seven years as “against the Constitution”, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has asked the government to give posting to a complainant in six weeks.
T Subba Rao, who was working as an attender in the Dr Narla Tata Rao thermal power station at Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district, went missing from August 26, 2001, and his wife filed a missing case. In October next year, the police said that they could not trace him. Later, Rao’s son Srinivasa filed an application seeking a job on compassionate grounds.
The application was rejected on the grounds that he does not have the eligibility to get a job on compassionate grounds as per GO 378 of 1999, as Subba Rao does not have seven years service by the time he went missing in August 2001. Srinivasa Rao approached the High Court in 2012 challenging the GO based on which he was denied a job on compassionate grounds.
After hearing the petition, Justice B Devanand recently gave his verdict finding fault with the GO. “The government should look into the issue in a humanitarian manner and should not impose conditions in such cases. The government issued the GO without considering the mental agony of the family of a missing person. The GO was issued unilaterally and is against the Constitution,” Justice Devanand said. Justice Devanand ordered the energy department to appoint the petitioner in a post as per his qualification.