Govt Approves VRS For Group C Employees
The state cabinet approved the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for Group C permanent state government employees who have reached the age of 45 on Wednesday.
After a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that the purpose of the VRS is to allow retired employees to leave the service and to rationalise the strength of departments so that the government can save money on recurring expenses for such employees.
The scheme was developed in response to the Chief Minister's assurance in his budget speech.
Employees in Group 'C' include pharmacists, lab technicians, head clerks/section heads, police chief constables, typists, stenographers, tax assistants, telephone operators, TTEs, junior engineers, cartographers, draughtsmen, estimators, and so on.
A permanent employee who has reached the age of 45 may seek voluntary retirement under the scheme by submitting a written request to the appointing authority. A permanent employee who chooses to participate in the scheme will be entitled to an additional weightage of up to five years when calculating the minimum qualifying service of 20 years for the purpose of retirement gratuity only.
Except for teaching and health-related technical positions, all vacant positions as a result of the voluntary retirement scheme will be permanently abolished.
The scheme will be open for four months following its publication in the official gazette.
The employee will be entitled to compensation for remaining service upon reaching the age of superannuation. The employee will receive two months' salary for each year of service left until superannuation, subject to a maximum of 20 per cent balance non-incremental salary receivable based on the basic pay drawn as of the intended date of voluntary retirement.
