Ranchi, Dec 17 – Irregularities and delays have been reported in a number of recruitment examinations for government jobs in Jharkhand. Here, for a single examination, candidates may have to fill forms four-five times and the examination dates can be postponed six-seven times.
It is possible that if the examination is conducted several times after fixing the dates, then seven-eight-fifteen years may pass by the time the appointment process is completed. It is also possible that after passing the exam, one may have to go to the courts for appointment.
In such a situation, the candidates are forced to come out on the streets. And during protest, sometimes they are also lathi charged by police.
These days the youth of Jharkhand have once again started agitating. Last Friday, thousands of youth surrounded the office of Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission for eight hours. They entered the premises and created a ruckus. A young man also tried to commit suicide, who was taken into custody by the police.
These youth were angry over the postponement of the Jharkhand General Graduate Qualifying Combined Competitive Examination for the sixth time. For this examination, 2000 posts are to be appointed in the Jharkhand government and about 6.5 lakh youth have applied for this. Advertisement for this examination was first issued eight years ago.
After that, due to some glitches or changes in policy, applications were invited for at least four times. Now the examination has been announced on January 21 and 28. According to the students, the exam is not possible even on these dates fixed for the seventh time because they are clashing with the dates of other recruitment examinations.
The examination conducted by Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission on October 29 for appointment to 921 posts of Municipal Service Cadre in the state was also mired in controversies.
In this examination conducted at many centres in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, there were complaints like seal of question paper being broken at many places, candidates not getting OMR sheet at some centres, serial number not being printed on the booklet or written with marker pen.
Students created ruckus at many centres regarding this. The commission had earlier rejected the complaints of the students and lodged an FIR against several students who created the ruckus. Later the complaints of the students were found to be true and the commission has now canceled the examinations of five centres. Now, December 24 has been fixed for the examination of the canceled centres.
Same is the story of the examinations conducted by Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC). In April 2020, JPSC had advertised for 77 posts of Assistant Town Planner across the state.
Out of the candidates who applied for this, 318 were called for interview. Out of these, 186 such candidates were also included in the interview, who did not even have the certificate of the Institute of Town Planner (India) till the last date of filling the form, August 10, 2020, although it was a mandatory qualification. In such a situation, many candidates approached the High Court raising questions on this appointment process.
Recently, the High Court had ordered that the candidature of 186 candidates, who were called for interview by JPSC despite not having the certificate of Institute of Town Planner till the last date of filling the form, should be cancelled. This order of the High Court was challenged in the Supreme Court. Recently, the Supreme Court also upheld the decision of the High Court.
JPSC took 18 years to complete the process of an examination for appointment to 50 posts of Deputy Collector. It had released the advertisement for Deputy Collector’s examination in 2005. The examination was conducted on April 23, 2006 at 16 centres in Ranchi.
Later, there was a dispute regarding irregularities in the examination and the matter also went to court. Meanwhile, the then Governor Syed Sibte Razi ordered an inquiry into this examination. Based on the investigation report, this examination was canceled on June 12, 2013.
Later the state government decided to conduct this examination afresh, and JPSC issued the notice of re-examination on October 19, 2015. After this, the examination was conducted on January 3, 2020, in which approximately 4000 candidates appeared. And finally, JPSC released its results in January 2023 after almost three years.
Most of the recruitment examinations conducted by Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) are also mired in controversies. JPSC’s 7th to 9th Civil Services Examination was held jointly. Controversies started with the publication of the advertisement for this examination.
Then the results of examinations from PT to Mains were revised thrice each. The court also had to intervene in this process, only then the appointment to 252 posts could be completed. It took 252 days to complete this examination.
Before the present government, the BJP government led by Raghubar Das lasted for five years, but its performance on restoration of government jobs was also very disappointing. About 3.5 lakh posts remained vacant in government departments. During his five years as Chief Minister, not a single civil services examination of JPSC could be completed.
The slow pace with which the recruitment process runs in Jharkhand can be gauged from the fact that in the last 23 years since the formation of the state, JPSC has been able to conduct only six Civil Services examinations, while as per the rules, till now at least 20 exams should have been completed.
Apart from this, CBI investigation is going on into the irregularities in more than a dozen recruitment examinations conducted by JPSC.
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