West Bengal gained infamy due to recruitment scams: CM

Maintaining that West Bengal gained infamy due to various recruitment scams during the previous regime, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said his Government will introduce a new recruitment policy in the next Budget session of the Assembly.

Noting that the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court had to intervene in these illegalities during the previous Trinamool Congress Government, leading to the cancellation of 26,000 school jobs, he said West Bengal’s image suffered a dent and that there was a need to bring the State out of the situation.

‘The chief minister said the Government wants to give OMR answer sheet carbon copies of the written tests for recruitment to the examinees following the examination.

Stating that he has learnt that till now, carbon copies of the OMR sheets were not given to the examinees of the State’s recruitment examinations, Adhikari said, “It’s a very bad practice with mala fide intention. Such practices were resorted to for encouraging nepotism and corruption.”

Addressing a Rozgar Mela organised by the Central Government to hand over appointment letters to the recruited persons as part of a nationwide programme, Adhikari said that West Bengal, which was known for its high standards of education and intellect, has gained “infamy” owing to the school jobs and municipal body recruitment scams. “We have to bring our dear West Bengal out of this situation,” the chief minister said.

“Even the examination centres were tainted in such a manner that Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway were not holding their recruitment examinations in the State,” he said.

He said that the youths of West Bengal were sitting for the examinations in the neighbouring States of Bihar, Assam and Odisha. The chief minister said that the existing recruitment system in the West Bengal Government, under which maximum marks are allocated to the viva examination, is “not good”.

He maintained that the viva part should have a minimum mark allocation. The chief minister said the previous TMC Government did not adhere to the constitutional obligations of the 100-point roster of reservation for OBC, SC/ST, physically challenged, and economically weaker sections (EWS) in State recruitments.

A 100-point roster is a standard administrative tool Government agencies use to regulate reservation quotas across 100 consecutive job vacancies to ensure that constitutional reservations are implemented properly without exceeding legal limits.

“These, including the 10 per cent reservation for EWS introduced by the Prime Minister through amendment in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, were ignored in West Bengal by the erstwhile dispensation,” Adhikari said.

“We want transparent written tests for recruitment, proper evaluation of academic excellence and implementation of the 100-point roster for reservation, which is mandatory,” he said.

He said the Government also wants to reduce the percentage of marks allotted for viva examinations and publish candidates’ scores on the recruitment organisations’ websites.

Adhikari said that to maintain transparency, the recruitment process in the West Bengal Government will be in the way shown by the Central Government in its recruitments for its organisations, like the Railways and the paramilitary forces.

“I personally feel that a copy of the OMR sheets used in recruitment examinations should be given to the respective candidates,” he said.

The chief minister said that a symposium will be held on June 6 for all recruitment organisations of West Bengal.

“We have decided to emulate the examination process of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) of the Central Government,” he said.

Stating that parents impart education to their children with a dream about careers, he said their dreams were shattered by the irregularities in the recruitments in various sectors in the State Government during the TMC rule.

The chief minister said West Bengal will be administered in a manner akin to the other 20 States that have double-engine BJP Governments.