Mizoram introduces Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma told the Assembly that the recently established Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2024, will provide voluntary pensions to government workers who are unable to carry out their official responsibilities because of a terminal disease. All departments are establishing service evaluation committees to find underperforming staff members who are unable to perform their duties because of their health or other circumstances. The chief minister explained that the program’s goal is to give workers a respectable way out rather than a dismissal.

Regular employees covered by the CCS Rules, 1972, who have not reached 20 years of service, as well as those covered by the Mizoram New Defined Contributory System, 2010, are eligible for the Mizoram Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2024, which was announced in January. In the meantime, Mizoram has seen a lot of government workers using proxies. After taking office in 2023, the Zoram People’s Movement administration promised to end the unlawful practice and told staff members who were using proxies to report to their departments.

A subsequent poll found that 3,365 workers from 44 departments participated in proxy hiring, with 703 citing domestic concerns and more than 2,000 alleging health issues. The government instructed these workers to report to their assigned posting locations within 45 days in June of last year. Although there aren’t any allegations of proxy hiring at the moment, Lalduhoma issued a warning that violators will face harsh consequences.