PANJIM: There seems to be no end to the Power Minister’s desire to act on his whims. With no control by the Chief Minister, and party office bearers turning a blind eye to his doings, the defiance of Power Minister Milind Naik appears to be growing daily.
First it was the IPB and JERC, then GPSC, but now the Power Minister feels he is above the law and has defied the government’s reply to the High Court of Mumbai in Goa, in blatant violation of the Constitution.
The case refers to writ petition no 426/2015 filed on April 3, 2015 in the High Court by Vinod R Coulekar and four others against the State and six others.
The petition challenges the July 2014 appointment of four Executive Engineers (EE) on officiating basis in the Electricity Department. The petition states that there is no rational policy followed in passing the order and the respondents have followed the policy of pick and choose in passing the orders overlooking the seniority list.
The petitioners are affected Assistant Executive Engineers whose names figure higher in the seniority list as compared to the Officiating EEs selected.
In the reply to this, on August 12, 2015, the Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) on behalf of the Goa government stated to the high court that the appointment of the Executive Engineers on officiating basis was a stop gap arrangement till the vacancies are filled on a regular basis by direct recruitment or promotion whichever is earlier.
Also, he said that direct recruitment of EEs has been taken up as there were no eligible candidates for promotion.
The reply states, “At the time when seven posts were vacant, there were no eligible candidates available for promotion from degree holder category in feeder grade (Assistant Engineer, Electrical) and therefore it was decided that these seven vacant posts of Executive Engineers be filled by direct recruitment. Accordingly in pursuance of the government decision the department has submitted requisition to GPSC for filling seven posts of EE by direct recruitment. The GPSC conducted the process of recruitment and recommended five names for the post of EE recommendations of GPSC is still awaiting government’s final decision”.
The recommendations of the GPSC were approved by the Chief Minister on August 29, 2015 with the remark that orders for appointment be issued. This was in line with the reply filed by the government in the High Court.
The note was immediately forwarded by the Chief Secretary on August 31, 2015 and in turn by the Power Secretary on September 1, 2015 to the CEE for issue of immediate orders. The CEE forwarded the file to DDA on September 4, 2015.
Immediately after this, the Power Minister verbally sought that the GPSC selection file be returned to his office and the same was done on September 7, 2015. The Power Minister is holding the file from this date with no justifiable reason against the orders of the Chief Minister.
Shockingly, the Power Minister’s noting on the file states that the appointments be kept in abeyance since he has assured promotions to the graduate engineers of the department.
“The members of the Graduate Engineers Association had called me and I had assured them to look into their grievances. I had also suggested in the said note that we may keep the proposal of direct recruitment in abeyance until we examine the grievances and inform GPSC accordingly,” Naik said in his noting.
While in the above para he gives the excuse of graduate engineers, in the next Naik says that seven vacancies generated should have gone to the Assistant Engineers of the department holding diploma with 12 years working experience.
“I am given to understand that there are sufficient engineers with 12 years experience in the grade in the department. While filling seven vacancies directly, Assistant Engineers of the department will be deprived of right for promotions,” he says adding, “I therefore suggest the recruitment be not proceeded further and the GPSC may be informed accordingly.”
In doing so the Power Minister has not only defied the Chief Minister’s approval orders but dared to go against the government’s reply to the High Court.
Is the Power Ministry bluffing the High Court and are they aware of the consequences? On one hand, it justifies its decision of taking EEs on officiating basis stating that the arrangement is stop gap and the post will be filled by candidates selected by GPSC through direct recruitment after approval from government.
On the other hand, the Power Minister is holding back the recruitment file without any justifiable reasons, even after approval from the Chief Minister.
Power Raj in the department is fast turning into Jungle Raj, where the Power Minister seems undeterred and the Chief Minister appears helpless. Who suffers is the common man. Can we expect a change?
