THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KSEB has given compassionate appointments to two persons on behalf of one person who died while in service. When the irregularity came to light, the authorities lodged a complaint with the police and settled the problem. The concerned officials of the electricity department and the police found that there were no documents related to the appointment.

Two persons have been appointed as dependents of Rajapan, second grade overseer of the Chacka electricity section, who died while in service. Rajappan's brother Sasidharan was appointed in a clerical post and Rajappan's daughter Bindu was appointed as an office attendant later.

The investigation conducted by the vigilance found that there was an irregularity after a complaint was raised about this. A subsequent departmental inquiry revealed that no record was maintained in this regard and that there is only a copy of the appointment order. It is clear that both the dependents have been given jobs in the name of the same person. However, there are no documents in the office to find out how this happened or who was behind it. With that, the authorities decided to file a complaint with the medical college police and end the problem. The incident came to light through an application filed by RTI activist Anil Kumar of Peroorkada.

Rajapan, a native of Vattiyoorkavu, who was the overseer of Chacka electricity section, died in 1972. His brother Sasidharan, who applied for compassionate appointment in 1974, joined the service in a clerical post and retired as Senior Superintendent in 2008. While Sasidharan was in service, Rajappan's daughter Bindu was appointed as an office assistant in 1989 through compassionate appointment. She is currently in service. KSEB was forced to investigate the matter after receiving an anonymous complaint in 2017. However, the authorities kept the information confidential. The irregularity came out in the reply received on October 28, as per the request made by RTI activist Anil Kumar in July 2023.

Compassionate appointment

There are already complaints of abuse of compassionate appointments. Therefore, a provision is being considered that only if the appointment is accepted within one year, it is enough to give the appointment and for those who do not, it is enough to give a consolidated relief of Rs.10 lakh. The government has also decided to deduct 25% of the wages of those appointed as dependents and give this to the other dependents if they do not protect them.