PESHAWAR: The government employees have been opting to get retired on medical grounds prematurely to get full pension benefits and ensure jobs of their wards under the quota system, according to sources.

“The employees are retiring on the basis of ill-health including diabetes, hypertension, hepatitis, mental illnesses and chronic health issues just to pave way for recruitment of their sons and daughters in the departments where they work,” they said.

The standing medical board meets at Services Hospital Peshawar twice a month to board out those employees, who apply for retirement due to sickness, which hampers their smooth performance of duty and they cannot continue to work.

Most of such officials belong to education dept, followed by health dept

Majority of the retiring employees on medical grounds belong to education department followed by health and other departments.

The record of Services Hospital Peshawar showed that most of the retiring employees were class IV whose wards were readily given jobs by the government as according to the law, their children should be accommodated.

For the recruitment of peon, ward orderly and other low-ranking positions, no qualifications or technicalities are required.

During the current year, more than 300 government servants have been given approval to retire from service with full benefits without completing their 60-year length of jobs to be able to retire. The medical board allowed 40 employees in January, 32 in February, 23 in March, 29 in April, 43 in May, 39 in June 39, 20 in July 20, 21 in August 21, 28 in September, 20 in October and 47 employees in November to retire on medical grounds.

All of them were declared “permanently incapacitated”. It means they cannot undertake any job. Interestingly, they continue their professional work in private organisations with no questions asked.

There is separate medical board for the employees wanting to get retired prior to reaching superannuation age, arguing they suffer from mental disorders.

The procedure to quit job on medical ground is that an employee approaches his/her relevant department that he/she is seriously ill and cannot continue work on the basis of which he/she is referred to the deputy director medical at the director-general health services office that evaluates the documents and records and refer the employee to Service Hospital to be examined by the board.

The medical superintendent of the Services Hospital acts as chairman of the medical board with four specialists as its members. The cases of some of the employees were sent to medical board because of their continuous absence due to illnesses but in most cases, the employees could get boarded out.

A few years ago, the government abolished district level medical boards because of rampant complaints of irregularities amid reports that some healthy employees obtained retirement, citing bad health. Now the only provincial board in Services Hospital Peshawar is tackling cases of the entire province but sources said that still most of the applicants got retirement. The ratio of rejection of the applications was minimal, they added.

The officials concerned said that they referred patients to specialists in teaching hospitals from where they got recommendations for their retirement or otherwise.

They said that chronic diseases such as breast cancer was the main cause leading to retirement of women government employees on medical grounds whereas others were given go-ahead by the board because they were in terminal stages of different ailments. They added that some policemen retired medically when they received multiple injuries in acts of terrorism and bomb blasts.

The people with more than 10-year service are among the retiring lot on medical reasons.

“There has been no effort to revamp the procedure and employees continue to take benefits and seek early retirement and get full benefits like the employees, who complete their full-service period,” said sources.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2018