Posts in Corporation and appointments thereto.

(1) Subject to the provisions contained in this Act and the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Services Act, 1994 (14 of 1994), the Corporation may, with the previous approval of the State Government or any other officer authorised in this behalf, appoint such officers and servants as it considers necessary for the efficient discharge of its duties. (2) The qualifications, methods of recruitment, salaries, leave, allowance and other conditions of service including disciplinary matters of such officers and servants shall be such as may be prescribed. (3) The salary, allowances, gratuity, pension, contributions and other payments required to be made, in accordance with the conditions of the services, to the officers and officials employed for the discharge of duties of the Corporation under this Act, shall be charged from the Corporation Fund in the prescribed manner. (4) An employee in regular employment of the Corporation may in lieu of the Contributory Provident Fund benefits admissible to him under the Provident Fund Act, 1925 (19 of 1925), opt for service and family pensions and in that event he will be governed by the rules, as are applicable to the employees of the State Government; and such a person shall contribute to the General Provident Fund: Provided that,- (a) the share of money contribution by the Corporation, alongwith interest accrued thereon, to the credit of such a person in his Contributory Provident Fund, shall be credited to the pension and Gratuity Fund; established for this purpose; (b) the share of money, alongwith interest accrued thereon, to the credit of such a person in the Contributory Provident Fund on account of his own contribution, shall be transferred to his credit in the General Provident Fund established for the purpose; and any loss caused to the Corporation through withdrawals during the service shall be made good by him. (5) The Corporation shall, in relation to such employees who have exercised the option for pension under sub-section (4), shall credit its contributions regularly but not later than fifth day of each month following the month to which the contributions relate, into the Pension and Gratuity Fund. (6) The "Pension and Gratuity Fund" and "General Provident Fund" referred to in sub-section (4), shall be established and maintained by the Director, Urban Local Bodies, Himachal Pradesh in such manner, as may be prescribed. (7) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, the persons, who were in the regular service of any Corporation as on 1st April, 1992 and had retired before the 30th day of May, 1994, provided they opt for service and family pension under this section, and refund to the Director, within such period as may be specified, the employer's contribution to the Provident Fund including interest received by them from the employer together with simple interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date of its withdrawal till the date of repayment, will also be eligible for service and family pension under this Act. (8) The approval for creation of post in a Corporation services shall be given by the Government after taking into consideration the requirements of the Corporation and its financial capacity. (9) In making appointment to any post referred to in this section, the appointing authority shall, follow the instructions issued by the Government from time to time in relation to reservation of appointments or posts for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and any other category of persons.