STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Alleging large scale malpractices, bungling, nepotism and corruption in the process of selections conducted by various recruitment agencies, including SSB for government jobs, scores of Panthers Party activists led by Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and Yash Paul Kundal State President Young Panthers held a protest at Exhibition Ground Jammu seeking abolition of interviews in the selection process to government services for non-gazetted posts.
While addressing the media, Harsh recalled that PM Narendra Modi had suggested the abolition of interviews for the recruitment to non gazetted posts during his Independence Day address from Red Fort on 15th August 2015 and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) held by Dr. Jitendra Singh Union MoS promptly issued directions to all the states to discontinue the practice from January 1st, 2016. He regretted that while the interviews for Class III and Class IV posts were abolished in rest of the country, J and K Government remained non-chalant on the issue.
He was surprised that despite several communications sent by the DoPT to the State Government including four DO letters sent personally by Dr. Jitendra to the State Government conveying the decision of Central Government to abolish interviews had been disregarded for reasons best known.
He said that Dr. Jitendra further claimed to have held several meetings with the Chief Secretary emphasising abolition of interview for non gazette posts but the State Government declined to act thus conveying its vested interests in selections.
Moreover, the President also addressed the joint Houses of the Parliament on 31st January 2017 and complimented the Central Government’s decision to abolish the interviews for selections to non gazette posts but the implementation of the decision in the
State failed to see light of the day, disconcerted, Harsh said.
Anguished over the fraudulent selections to the non gazetted posts in the State, Harsh divulged that there were several instances where process of interview was abused and merit subverted by awarding disproportionate marks to the tail-enders. He pointed towards the last year’s judgment of State Vigilance Commission wherein it had indicated that the members of an interview committee indulged in large scale fraudulent selections at the cost of merit and recommended abolition of interviews for Class III and Class IV posts.
Singh sought an immediate change in recruitment policy for State Government jobs by abolition of the interview system and making selections on the basis of academic merit itself.
Hailing the recent verdict of SVC, Singh said that it was established that helmsman who appoint their favourites as members of the recruitment agencies and then use the said members for getting favours for their blue eyed candidates in the viva voce thus vitiating the sanctity of the entire selection process.
He said that while the BJP led govt. at the Centre had announced abolition of interview for all non-gazetted posts, ironically the BJP partnered government in J and K issued a notification last year mandating oral test (interview) for all such services which was to be held after written test. He said that the BJP-PDP vested interests in retaining interviews for the selections to government jobs had been exposed by the PMO itself when Dr. Jitendra Singh made a statement appearing in the media yesterday that his four D.O letters to the State Government on the subject had gone un-responded.
