VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Feb 7: The promise of the Hemant Soren Government to give jobs to youths of Jharkhand has come to a grinding halt due to the controversy on the recruitment policy which has been challenged in the Jharkhand High Court.
The Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) conducts recruitment for all the posts of Group C and Non-gazetted General/Technical/Non-Technical Service/Cadres of the State Government in Group B.
But a recent case challenging the recruitment process and the observation made by the Jharkhand High Court thereupon has made the situation of the JSSC and students quite precarious.
On January 27, the Jharkhand High Court had slammed the state government for not filing an affidavit regarding the recruitment rules of the JSSC. The bench of Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad asked the state government whether the court should put a stay on all recruitment processes of the JSSC.
The court was further displeased that despite rules being challenged, the government instead of submitting affidavits, published further recruitment advertisements under the new recruitment rules.
The hearing of the case is scheduled for February 8, but there is no clarity on whether the government filed the affidavit as directed during the last hearing.
The court commented that looking at the rules, the new recruitment policy appeared to be unconstitutional. The court found it discriminating since it has been made compulsory for the aspirants of the general category that they must have passed their matriculation and plus two from Jharkhand.
But the same has been relaxed for aspirants of the reserved category.
The petitioners Ramesh Hansda and Kushal Kumar said that such amendments and insertions were violative to the provisions of the Constitution of India.
But amid the row, the JSSC floated advertisements for the recruitment of junior engineers, assistant section officers, junior assistant (secretariat), block supply officers, and planning assistant and assistant scientists.
But the JSSC has maintained complete silence on how the controversy affects the ongoing recruitment process. JSSC chairperson Sudhir Tripathi did not respond to a phone call so did the other members.
The deputy secretary of the commission, Madhumita Kumari avoided replying even on the number of advertisements the JSSC has floated.
“I am not a competent authority to speak on these issues. Regarding the latest advertisement I need to see the files,” she said.
