Odisha: Kin of deceased govt staff kneel down demanding jobs under rehabilitation scheme

BHUBANESWAR: Family members of deceased government employees knelt down by holding their ears at the lower PMG near state assembly here on Friday demanding jobs under rehabilitation scheme. One of the protestors fell ill during the demonstration.
Around one hundred agitators under the aegis of Odisha Rajya Karmachari Thaithan Ashayi Sangha demanded scrapping of Odisha Civil Services (rehabilitation assistance) rules, 2020 and to reinstate the earlier 1990 rules.
After a protestor fell ill, they got agitated and ran towards the state assembly. But the police did not allow them to further proceed. There was a scuffle between the police and the protestors.
Biswa Acharya, Sangha’s president, said the rehabilitation rules of 2020 is very complicated and it has become a very difficult task for the family members of the deceased government employees to get jobs under the rehabilitation scheme. “We have been waiting for several years to get the jobs, but in vain,” he added.
He said the government has framed several criteria before selecting kin of the deceased government staff for any group-D job. “Because of the 2020 rehabilitation rules, we are running pillar to post to convince the officials about our distress condition. We go to court and the process gets delayed. This is inhuman,” said Acharya.
Simanchal Mishra, general secretary of the Sangha, said the government provides jobs to a family member after the death of a government employee before retirement. “The process was smooth earlier, but the state government has made it complicated in 2020. Due to this issue, family members are going through a lot of financial and emotional problems,” he added.
He said the government employees, who had died before 2020, should not be included in the 2020 rehabilitation rules. Their kin should get jobs under the 1990 rehabilitation rules. “We want scrapping of 2020 rehabilitation rules immediately,” he added.