Chandigarh: The Chandigarh bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal has ordered the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the director of PGIMER, Chandigarh, to provide pensionary benefits to a contractual employee who worked at the institute for over 40 years.
According to reports, the tribunal directed that the employee, 62-year-old Ganesh Chander, be treated on par with regular employees and that his continuous service as a restorer qualify him for pension.
Chander, represented by advocate Rishav Sharma, had petitioned the tribunal, seeking to overturn PGI’s denial of his pension rights. He initially joined the institute in 1977 as an ad-hoc laboratory attendant and was later promoted to junior laboratory technician before his termination in 1989.
Following a high court ruling in 1995, Chander was reinstated in 1998 on a contractual basis as a restorer and retired in November 2021.
Despite PGI’s claim that he was ineligible for pension as a contractual employee, the tribunal ruled that his pension and gratuity should be determined according to CCA (Pension) Rules.
