The Arvind Kejriwal government has hastened the process for hiring retired government employees as contractual ministerial staff and set February 8 as the date for concluding the exercise with distribution of engagement letters.

To maintain transparency in the process, the Education Department has directed all government schools to provide information by January 28 so that the list of applicants and the schools for which they have applied for could be displayed on the official website, said an official.

The former government employees, to be hired on a monthly remuneration of Rs 25,000, are being roped in to help heads of schools (HoS) to file TDS returns, maintenance of cash book and service books, opening bank accounts of students, record keeping, handling correspondence diary-dispatch and scrutiny of LTA and Medical claims.

“The 10-day on-line application process for ministerial staff started on January 18 and would end by February 8, to ensure they join before or at the start of the next session,” said an Education Department official.

Computer literacy  
For better efficiency, the government has mandated that the applicants for post of ministerial staff should have basic computer literacy and have knowledge of MS Office for the purpose of preparing official computerised presentations. 

The Education Department has also advised applicants to file online form for any school  in which at present there is no vacancy. This will help them get a preference during any future hiring process in the institutions of their choice.

The Department, in a notification earlier this month, invited application from those who had retired from Central or Delhi government or any state governments or local bodies and defence services and are below 65 years of age.

“Retired persons will be hired as ministerial staff on contract basis in a government school to the extent that a total number of ministerial staff (regular plus contractual) physically working should not exceed 2 in a school with enrolment up to 700 and 3 in schools with enrolment above 700,” a DoE notification said.

The candidates who would be considered for the openings should have retired from the services of Central/Delhi/State government, local bodies, defence service or equivalent services. 

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who handles the education portfolio, has ensured that no tainted retired personnel manage to get engaged.

Under Sisodia’s direction a clause has been inserted in the hiring process that all candidates should be free from vigilance angle at the time of retirement.
“As a proof of this, a copy of the Pension Payment Order/Gratuity Payment Authority will have to be submitted,” said the notification.

All applicants have been asked to give personal undertaking that he/she has no criminal case pending against him or her at the time of hiring.

Earlier, to pave the way for hiring retired employees in schools the government put in place simpler guidelines for all departments to engage consultants against vacant posts.

Officials said the purpose behind officially announce the guidelines was to bring in uniformity in the process of hiring consultants.

The need to do so was felt after noticing that some departments were engaging consultants in regular pay scales, adding to the financial burden on the government.
The guidelines stipulate that consultants would not be permitted to take up any other assignment during the period of their engagement.

As followed by the Education Department in its drive to hired ministerial staff, the maximum age limit of a consultant is 65 years with initial engagement for one year.
The total period of engagement as consultant shall not exceed five years.