The government has started to realise how difficult it has become to provide employment to people which is why it looks like they have shifted their focus towards the private sector. The Mega Job Fair held at Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Stadium on November 8 and 9 indicates just that. The initiative received tremendous response, which only signifies how severe the problem of unemployment in the State is. However, the intention of the government seems to be that even if a few thousand youths get jobs through the Fair then at least some burden of the government will be reduced. The government has laid out a procedure for the private sector and so it is only obvious to question how the government goes about recruiting people.
The procedure that is followed in the private sector is not followed while hiring people for government jobs. In the private sector, hiring is carried out by keeping quality and qualifications as the key factors except on a few occasions where smaller establishments recruit people through contacts as per their needs. Although recruiting a government employee includes a written exam, interviews and then final selection, political influence plays a major role in the overall procedure. The accusation that government jobs are distributed among ministers and MLAs for their karyakartas is common. The ones to have obtained government jobs have got them in the similar way but they will not talk about it. But the ones who haven’t would be very vocal about it. This is why the youths and their parents always crowd in front of ministers’ houses asking for jobs. It is a reality which no one can deny. People also discuss that such jobs involve money that amounts to lakhs of rupees.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The chief minister’s statement that people will no longer have to go to the ministers for jobs is in itself a confirmation that it was the norm to get government jobs. One also has to check why the chief minister must have made such a statement. First of all, the constant demand for jobs by karyakartas or workers is troublesome. The government had banned recruitment for some time before the 2017 Assembly Elections, which went on from 2016 to 2021. However, the ban had to be lifted after it started to become a problem. Needless to say that the posts stayed vacant which were supposed to be filled till now and the pressure for the same started to build up on the government. It seems that the less number of posts and the added public pressure has prompted the government to start the recruiting process through the Staff Selection Commission.
Once the recruitment through the Commission begins, it is obvious that the selection will be done on the basis of quality and qualifications and not through political connections. However, this may pile up pressure on the government in due time but the authorities should not change the system then. The decision of employee selection through a Commission was taken back in 2019 and the government has even made the law regarding the same. However, the execution by the Commission is yet to begin after three years. In fact, the government in January 2021, by amending the law, gave the government departments rights to conduct the required exams and appointments. This permission was valid for two years and that period ends in January 2023. This is why the chief minister has announced the implementation of the Commission in January. His announcement which he made public in a rushed manner on the occasion of the Job Fair is being obligated to the law and it must be welcomed.
The people have been waiting for the implementation of the decision for the last three years as they are of the opinion that recruitment should happen solely on quality. The recruitment carried out with political influence lacks in quality. Those recruited don’t understand anything, they are sloppy and if someone questions them then they threaten with the intervention of the minister. This is a burning reality. The chief minister himself has agreed to it when he said that 30% of the employees are lazy. He also added that such employees will be sent home. Therefore, the government should perform the future recruitment through the Commission without falling prey to anyone’s pressure and without further ado. At the same time the government needs to keep an empathetic attitude towards the employees working on contract basis and should accommodate them in the service.
In fact, the government rule itself states that those working on daily wages or contract basis should be made permanent if they have completed five years. Circulars have been published from time to time but the execution was never done. These workers kept demanding, some left the job while some retired. They missed out on government benefits. If needed, the government should make amendments to the law to make them permanent in service.
