The inmates of Bhagwan Birsa Munda Biological Park (Birsa Zoo) at Ormanjhi, located around 18 kilometres from the State capital are secured but not the jobs of animal keepers as all of them are working on daily wage basis since long. Zoo officials feel that there is an immediate need to recruit permanent animal keepers. The recruitment for these posts is delaying for last eight years.
The committee for appointing these zoo keepers was sanctioned in 2005. In 2011, this board notified the zoo keepers’ appointment but Forest department’s internal hurdles have been delaying the matter since then. As many as 75 daily wage employees are serving this zoo belonging to nearby areas of Ormanjhi block, Patna (Bihar), Ranchi district and Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh).
Sharing the woes of all the daily wagers here, Gatekeeper Manendra Sahu who is deployed at this zoo for last 20 years said, “There are around 50 of us who are kept on daily wage by the State Government panel list which we usually get after a gap of two or three months. There are more 15 keepers who are given their salaries after showing their work attendance. “In-spite of working for last 23 years as a daily wage worker, we have not been hired and are working with the assurance that some or the other way we would be absorbed as a zoo staff in the near future,” said Dhuma Ram.
Highlighting on the zoo authorities difficulties on this topic, Zoo Director AK Patra said, “The appointment committee has to recruit 24 zoo keepers. But, this is a problem as there is no Member Secretary for this committee. Chief Conservator of Forest who is also the Zoo Appointment Committee Director has to be the Member Secretary then only this recruitment process can speed up. We have sent a proposal for this member secretary issue to the Government. At present, hiring the contractual animal keepers is our prime concern.”
Patra informed that modification of this entire recruitment process is essential. “Ranchi Commissioner was supposed to do the roster clearance for this recruitment a month ago but nothing further had taken place for the hiring issue,” added Patra.