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5 Reading material

Compassionate Appointment

Compassionate Appointment is a social security scheme launched by the Government of India to

grant appointment to a dependent family member on a compassionate basis when a Government
servant dies while in service or retires on medical grounds. The Objective of the scheme is to
provide immediate financial assistance to the family who is left in poverty and without any
means to sustain their livelihood.

Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Sitting Supreme Court Judge emphasized in the case of N.C.
Santhosh V. State of Karnataka & Ors that “appointment to any public post is to be made in
accordance with Articles 14 (Right to Equality) & Article 16 (Right to equal opportunity to all
citizens in the matter of employment) of the Constitution of India and the Exception to this
general rule is Compassionate Appointment”.

Compassionate appointment

As per the ‘Office Memorandum’ issued by the Government of India via the Ministry of
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training) dated
16.01.2013 wherein the subject related to compassionate appointment has been discussed:

For the purpose of compassionate appointment, ‘Government Servant’ is defined as government

servant appointed on regular basis and not a daily wage worker or a casual apprentice or a
worker on a contractual basis; and Dependent Family member means spouse, son (also includes
adopted son) and Daughter (also includes adopted daughter). In the case of the Government
servant being unmarried (brother or sister), they will qualify as dependent family members who
are completely relying on the Government servant at the time of his retirement on medical
grounds or his death in harness.

Competent authority to make a compassionate appointment is:

 Joint Secretary in-charge of administration in the concerned Department/Ministry.

 In the case of attached and subordinate offices, the Head of the Department is the
competent authority.

 In special types of case, the competent authority is the Secretary of the concerned
Ministry/Department.

Applicability

The scheme of compassionate appointment applies to a Dependent Family member:

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Of a Government Servant who:

 Dies during service (also includes suicidal death); or

 Retires on medical grounds under Rule 2 of the CCS (Medical Examination) Rule, 1957
(Competent authority has a reason to believe that the Government Servant is suffering
from a contagious disease or a mental or physical disability and thus, is not able to
discharge his duties); or

 Retires on medical grounds under Rule 38 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 (Invalid
pension may be granted if the Government servant retires due to any bodily or mental
infirmity which permanently disables him from the service).

 Of the Armed Forces who:

 Dies during service; or

 Is killed in action; or

 Is medically unfit for civil employment.

Eligibility

 The family is impecunious and deserves prompt financial support.

 Dependent family members applying for compassionate appointment should be eligible

and suitable for the post under the relevant Recruitment Rules.

Procedure

 The Welfare Officer in every Office/Department/Ministry shall meet the family of the
government servant immediately after his death and assist them in getting a
compassionate appointment.

 At the first stage, the Applicant is called in person and asked to complete the required
formalities.

 A committee of 3 officers, 1 Chairman and 2 members of the rank of Director in the

Ministry/Deputy Secretary considers the application for appointment on compassionate
grounds in the light of instructions issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
If need be, the applicant is granted a personal hearing by the committee to understand
better the facts of the case.

 The recommendation of the committee is to be placed before the competent authority for
a decision. If the authority disagrees with the committee’s recommendation, then the case
is referred to the next higher authority for a decision.

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Undertaking

The applicant i.e. the person appointed on compassionate grounds under the scheme should
furnish an undertaking stating that she/he will maintain the other family members who were
dependent on the income of the member of Armed forces/Government servant.

The appointment of the applicant will be terminated if there is a failure to comply with the above
condition.

Issues involved in relation to compassionate appointment

Is a divorced daughter permitted to apply for a government job on compassionate

grounds?

In the case of State of U.P. V. Noopur Srivastava, the Allahabad High Court held that “divorced
daughter” is implicit in the expression “unmarried daughter” and thus, a divorced daughter is
entitled to a compassionate appointment if she was supported by the government employee at the
time of death and the marriage was legally dissolved either prior to or after the death of the job-
holder of the family and remains unmarried at the time of the appointment.

What if an application for a compassionate appointment is not made immediately?

 Departments/Ministries can consider belated requests for a compassionate appointment

even when the retirement of the government servant on medical grounds or the death of
the government servant took place long back, for example like 5 years ago.

 The fact that the family has been able to manage themselves all these years are taken into
consideration while dealing with the belated requests. Thus, the examination of such
belated requests is done with circumspection.

 At the time of considering whether an application for a compassionate appointment is

belated or not, reference is to be given to the date of death or retirement on medical
grounds and not the age of the applicant.

 The Secretary of the Department/Ministry concerned takes the decision in such cases of
belated requests of appointment on compassionate grounds.

In Ravi Koch V. State of Meghalaya, the Meghalaya High Court dismissed the writ petition for
compassionate appointment wherein the Petitioner’s father died in the year 1999 during service,
and after the lapse of 18 years the Petitioner applies for compassionate appointment in 2017. The
Court remarked that “the object of compassionate appointment is to save the family from
immediate financial destitution, but in this case, the family has already survived by themselves
for the last 18 years”.

What if a widow appointed on the compassionate ground gets remarried?

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A widow appointed on a compassionate basis will continue the service even if she decides to get
remarried.

What if there is an earning member in the family?

 In deserving cases with the approval of the Secretary of the Department or the concerned
Ministry, a dependent family member can be appraised for a compassionate appointment
even if there is an earning member.

 Before granting such an appointment, certain things are taken into consideration such as
the income of the earning member, assets and liabilities left by the government servant
and the number of dependents.

What if the Government Servant is missing?

The scheme of compassionate appointment also covers the case where a Government Servant has
been missing. Such cases are subject to the following condition:

 A request to grant compassionate appointment to a dependent family member can be

made only after the lapse of at least 2 years from the date the Government servant is
missing, provided that :

o FIR has been lodged with the Police,

o The missing person is nowhere to be found, and

o The competent authority feels that the case is genuine.

A decision on such a request of compassionate appointment will be made by the Secretary of the
Department or the concerned Ministry.

Compassionate appointment in the case of a missing government servant is not a matter of right
and thus is subjected to fulfilment of certain conditions such as availability of vacancy.

The outcome of the Police investigation is to be taken into consideration while examining such a
request.

The benefit of the scheme of the compassionate appointment to a dependent family member
while the government servant is missing will NOT be applicable:-

If the Government servant is suspected to have joined a terrorist organization or is suspected of

committing fraud or suspected to have gone abroad.

If the Government servant had less than 2 years to retire on the date from which he is missing.

Is a married daughter entitled to get the benefit of a Compassionate Appointment?

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In Mamta Devi V. State of Himachal Pradesh, the father of the petitioner died in harness leaving
behind a widow and 2 daughters. The petitioner i.e. married daughter who has to take care of her
widowed mother and sister applied for a compassionate appointment with the ‘non-objection
certificate’ from her mother and sister.

The petitioner was barred from getting a compassionate appointment solely on the ground that
she was married. The Court opined that “the object of the compassionate appointment is to
support the family of the deceased government servant who died in harness and by not including
married daughters in the sweep of the family; the object of the scheme cannot be achieved. The
court further stated that a daughter remains to be a daughter even after marriage and thus, if a
married son has a right to compassionate appointment, then a married daughter also stands on the
same footing.”

Can an appointment on compassionate grounds be granted by courts?

In Life Insurance Corporation of India V. Mrs. Asha Ramchandra Ambekar, the Supreme Court
of India held that Administrative Tribunals and High Courts can direct the Competent Authority/
concerned Department for considering the claim but cannot give direction for appointment on
compassionate grounds.