Pension till you die? Maharashtra says no

The government, it appears, doesn’t spare babus either when it comes to financial irregularities.

More than 5,000 public servants in the state are waiting for their pension and other benefits, 10 to 20 years after their retirement. What’s holding them back? The inquiries against them which are pending at the Lok Ayukta. The cases range from criminal activities to financial irregularities.

In a bid to get the system working faster these babus have played the ‘old age’ card at the Lok Ayukta. Now, the Lok Ayukta has taken suo motu and written to government on September 26.

“Dispose of or finalise such cases as it is a gross violation of the Senior Citizens Act.”

In the letter (of which DNA has a copy) written to the governor, it is mentioned, “The state has adopted Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2006. We find it has become obligatory on the state government to expeditiously dispose of or finalise those cases which are pending against public servants who have attained age of 60 years.”

The Lok Ayukta has asked the government to give department-wise statistics of pending cases within three months.

“The government, whom we served for over 35 years, is harassing us in our old age,” said an former class 1 excise officer, who is facing a departmental inquiry nine years after retirement.

According to Lok Ayukta records, over 40% pending cases are of senior citizens. Every year, it gets close to 12,000 cases. The lokayukta itself doesn’t do inquiries but transfers the file to the related department or anti-corruption bureau. These files are usually ignored for decades.

A Mantralaya officer on condition of anonymity said, “The inquiry officers are mostly retired people from the same department and sometimes of the same rank. How can we expect them to finalise the charges? Most of them are on contract basis.”

As per government rule, these babus receive pension for the initial six months of retirement, after which their payment is stopped by the Accountant General until the inquiry is complete.

An official of forest department told DNA, “Tradition is that departments don’t conduct inquiries against its officers. Rather he is promoted and gets regular increment.  Two to three days before their retirement, they are served with the notices. Then cases then linger for next many years.”

KP Bakshi, secretary, GAD (services) that looks after departmental inquiries against state officials was not available for comment.