Blue-eyed officials get cushy posts, same benefits after retirement

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 1

It seems that the state government’s blue-eyed officers do not retire even after superannuation.

The government wails about its ballooning wage bills, but it does not mind reemploying retired Punjab Civil Services officers (PCS) at various positions.

Citing administrative reasons, some of the re- employed officers are managing important portfolios.

In the Department of Local Bodies two such officers - VK Bhalla has been functioning as OSD (legal) for the last over three years and Prem Chand - has engaged as Additional Project Director in Punjab State Urban Livelihood Mission (PSULM).

Incidentally, Prem Chand after enjoying extension in service after his retirement was again re- employed on September 30, 2015, by the previous Secretary, Local Bodies, Ashok Gupta, who also retired the same day.

Another PCS officer, Baldev Singh, who retired last year, has been engaged as OSD (Legal) in the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation.

A senior government functionary said the officers were being re-employed on a contractual basis for administrative reasons. They are paid their last drawn salary minus the monthly pension. “Only the blue-eyed officials are re-employed while others have no such offer,” said a retired PCS officer.