In an incident which puts question mark over the functioning of Government departments, 13 female trainees selected as barefoot technicians under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNRGEA) in Chamoli district were asked to go home midway through their training period.
The department took refuge in the fact that these candidates received less than 50 percent marks in the screening test held before their selection. This sudden decision has left these female trainees shocked and many of them are planning to knock at the door of the court now.
One such candidate Ranjana Devi said that the incident reflects dictatorial attitude of the authorities. She said that the advertisement released in the newspapers for the post did not had any mention of compulsion of 50 per cent marks in the screening test.
Another such candidate Annapurna Devi said that the whole incident raises questions on the intention of senior officers. The mobile phone of Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Chamoli was found switched off when this correspondent tried to contact him.
The office of CDO and additional district programme coordinator sought application for bare foot technicians from eligible job card holders of MNREGA in the month of August 2016. The department required that these candidates should have passed the class X and should be between 19 to 35 years of age. The department selected eight candidates from each block of the district out of which four were women. There are nine blocks in Chamoli and a total of 36 female candidates were selected as barefoot technicians. The department even started the training of the selected candidates at Gopeshwar. However the dreams of 13 candidates were shattered midway through the training when they received letters of termination.