Shadow Correspondent
JAMMU,MAR 03:
Alleging large scale malpractices, bungling, nepotism and corruption in the process of selections conducted by various recruitment agencies, including SSB for govt. jobs, scores of Panthers Party activists led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and Mr. Yash Paul Kundal State President Young Panthers held a massive protest demonstration at Exhibition Ground Jammu seeking abolition of interviews in the selection process to Govt. services for non-gazetted posts.
While addressing the media, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh 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 & 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&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 Singh to the state govt conveying the decision of Central govt. to abolish interviews had been disregarded for reasons best known.
He said that Dr. Jitendra Singh further claimed to have held several meetings with the Chief Secretary emphasizing abolition of interview for non gazette posts but the state govt 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 govt.’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, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh 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. Mr. Singh sought an immediate change in recruitment policy for state govt. jobs by abolition of the interview system and making selections on the basis of academic merit itself.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Rajesh Padgotra, Gagan Partap, Partap Singh, Sham Gorkha, Purshotam Parihar, Khajoor Singh, Raj Kumar Gupta, Nirmal Kishore, Udhayveer, Mohinder Singh, Vishav Singh, Narotam Singh, Sony Sambyal, Ravinder Jamwal, Sansar Chand, Subash Charak, Rakesh Verma, Narinder Sharma besides others.
