At a time when Odisha is facing growing unemployment, the State government is re-engaging officers and other employees after their retirement without a clear reappointment policy, alleged a Right to Information (RTI) activist.
“Officers of the Indian Administrative Service and the Odisha Administrative Service were found being appointed to various positions immediately after retirement and there is a long list of such officers,” said Pradip Pradhan, who had obtained a list of reappointments under the RTI Act.
‘Reappointed 8 times’
Mr. Pradhan alleged that the appointments were arbitrary in nature. “Deepak Kumar Mohanty, an Indian Forest Service officer, has been reappointed eight times since his retirement in 2018,” he pointed out.
“Similarly, Dillip Kumar Mohanty, an IAS, who was working in the Chief Minister’s Office, has been given one-year extension four times since 2016,” said Mr. Pradhan quoting RTI replies furnished by the General Administration Department.
He said R. Balakrishnan, a top IAS officer, had been appointed adviser to the State government after his retirement in 2019 for an unknown period.
Long list
There is long list of IAS and OAS officers and engineers in different departments. As many as 20 Class-I officers were given reappointment as consultants in the Water Resource Department.
“It seems the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation has not found any skills in the job market. The corporation has absorbed 96 retired employees, including officers and office assistants,” charged Mr. Pradhan.
Mr. Pradhan said, “We are not totally averse to reappointments. Some officers with their skill level are considered indispensable. But, they cannot be offered post-retirement appointments for umpteen times.”
