Probably for the first time in the history of Indian Railways, a 10-month-old baby girl who lost her parents in an accident has been given compassionate appointment by the national carrier. According to officials, the infant already has a job with the Indian Railways and she can start working once she attains the age of 18 years, news agency PTI reported. The railways officials have taken child's fingerprints to mark an official registration in the railway records.
Such an offer has been given by Indian Railways to a child of this age on compassionate grounds for the first time," official said. The offer has been made to the child in Chhattisgarh whose parents died in a road accident on June 1.
The father of the child, Rajendra Kumar, was working as an assistant at a railway yard in Bhilai. The child, however, survived the accident," PTI quoted a South East Central Railways (SECR) official statement.
On July 4, a 10-month-old girl was registered for compassionate appointment in the Personnel Department of SECR, Raipur Railway Division. All help was provided to Kumar's family by the Raipur Railway Division according to rules.
"It was a heart-wrenching moment. It was also difficult for us to take the thumb impression of such a small child," recalled an official.
What Is Compassionate Appointment?
Compassionate appointment is admissible in case of death of the mother or father, subject to the stipulation that only one compassionate appointment will be available either on the death of the husband or wife whichever event occurs first.
In Indian Railways, appointments on Compassionate grounds are offered to the dependents of regular railway servants who lose their lives in the course of duty or die in harness or otherwise while in service or are medically incapacitated/decategorised.
Normally all appointments on compassionate grounds should be made within a period of five years from the date of occurrence of the even entitling the eligible persons to be appointed on this ground. However, this period of five years may be relaxed by the Director General, RDSO, subject to the following conditions.