Anomalies in Recruitment: Jobless youths lose trust on machinery

GUWAHATI: The credibility of the State machinery to hold free-and-fair examinations for the recruitment of candidates in various departments is at stake. And it is rightly so in a State that is teeming with around 24 lakh educated unemployed youths.

The results of a number of recruitment examinations have not been declared in the State because of various anomalies. The latest such instance is the examination for the recruitment of SI (Sub Inspectors) in the State Police force. Of course, the Chief Minister reacted to the issue promptly by ordering an inquiry into it and also fresh examination for recruiting SIs.

In 2019 also, the Chief Minister had acted promptly by taking suo motto cognizance of a reported controversy and ordered Additional Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah to inquire into the examination for the recruitment of 900 posts in the Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) department.

However, the problem continues to stay put despite prompt actions by the Chief Minister. Because of such anomalies, appointment letters have not been issued for around 2,000 posts in the APDCL (Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd) even after holding of the examinations in 2019. For the recruitment of third and fourth-grade posts in the Education department advertised in 2019, the examination could not be held even today. The anomalous examination to recruit 646 personnel in the Irrigation department is now with the Gauhati High Court.

But then, the picture is quite different in the recruitment of candidates in departments like Education, and PWD as well as the Health and Family Welfare Department. All recruitment examinations in these departments were free from anomalies. What leads the other departments to get clogged in recruitment anomalies is something to take serious note of.

The service rules of the State government do shed some light on this vexed issue. Going by the service rules, the departments entrust the responsibility of holding the recruitment examinations to their directorates or commissionerates, as the case may be. This system was followed earlier.

Even though examination anomalies were there then also, the degree of anomalies was much less than what is seen now.

Anomalies of recruitment examinations have become an almost regular affair since when the State government started the practice of outsourcing holding of examinations to third parties. To begin with, the government entrusted AIM (Assam Institute of Management) to hold examinations for recruitment. The Institute conducted many examinations smoothly. However, the departments then entrusted a few other institutions with doubtful credentials for holding such recruitment examinations. And the outcome is what's glaringly visible now.

The government has lined up a number of recruitment examinations within the next one or two months. While the Employment and Craftsman Training Directorate is going to recruit candidates for 444 posts, the Directorate of Health is going to fill up 656 vacant posts, 36 posts by the Department of Excise, 14 by the Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) among others.

Will the Chief Minister take prompt measures to prevent such examination anomalies from recurring? Only such a measure can restore the faith of the lakhs of educated unemployed youths on the State machinery.

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