Hi Corion, when i run my code in perl 5.10 it gives me the results.
atyagi@qtspg-1 ~$ perl perlHash.pl
Using a hash as a reference is deprecated at perlHash.pl line 10.
Using a hash as a reference is deprecated at perlHash.pl line 11.
Using a hash as a reference is deprecated at perlHash.pl line 12.
1.1 after method call $VAR1 = 'claimList';
$VAR2 = undef;
$VAR3 = 'error';
$VAR4 = undef;
$VAR5 = 'contractList';
$VAR6 = '';

same code i am runing in 5.26.1 its give me an error.
Can't use a hash as a reference at perlHash.pl line 10.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#

use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;

my %rowRetrun;

%rowRetrun->{'contractList'} = "";
%rowRetrun->{claimList} = ();
%rowRetrun->{error} = ();

print "1.1 after method call ", Dumper(%rowRetrun);
[download]

Again: That's not how you access a hash.

Maybe you want:

$rowRetrun{ 'contractList' } = "";
[download]

Thanks Corion. its working now.