There is good news for the candidates wanting to get a job in the place of their parent who died while serving at the municipal councils. The state administration has worked out a formula to hire such candidates on compassionate grounds.

A decision in this regard was taken after Minister of State for Urban Development Hasan Mushrif held a meeting with the director of municipal administration and officers of the local self-government bodies on January 6.

Speaking to The Indian Express Mushrif said that the candidates who applied for jobs on compassionate grounds would be hired for the posts left vacant by the retirement of permanent employees. However, they will be in queue for such posts along with the temporary employees. This means if there are two posts left vacant after employees retire, one would go to a temporary employee and the other to a compassionate ground candidate. If the vacant posts are in odd numbers, then they would be filled alternately with temporary and compassionate ground candidates.

Though the State has made provisions to hire one of the legal heirs of the employee who dies during his/her service, thousands of applications have been gathering dust in various municipal councils in the state. The delay in hiring the candidates on compassionate grounds has been more since the state scrapped levy of octroi from municipal council limits in 1999, which led to reduction in number of jobs.

“In 2004, the state also withdrew the powers of employment from the municipal councils and scrapped the posts which would have eventually filled in by compassionate ground candidates. Though the municipal councils still accept applications from candidates like me, they no longer have the power to hire,” said Dinesh Gaikwad (33), son of an employee of the Ambernath Municipal Council in Thane who died in 1999.

Gaikwad has been waiting for the last 10 years to hear from the authorities regarding his employment with the municipal council where his father served. He said the provision made by the state government to hire on compassionate grounds kindles hope of employment of many like him in the place their deceased family member.