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Congress alleges irregularities in naib tehsildars’ recruitment in Punjab
Demands judicial probe, Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said candidates selected for the posts had failed other recruitment exams, party also alleges selection candidates from outside the state; Punjab Youth Congress president Brinder Dhillon also urged chief minister Bhagwant Mann to order a probe into the recruitment as other aspirants are agitated.
Alleging irregularities in the selection of naib tehsildars by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), Congress leader and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the recruitment and scrapping of the selection list.
Addressing a press conference here, Khaira alleged that candidates who had failed in clerical, patwari and excise inspector tests were among the toppers in the selection list of naib tehsildars. There were several candidates in the list who had failed in other exams, the standard of which was lower than that of the naib tehsildar tests, he claimed.
The All India Kisan Congress president said the recruitment exam was conducted in English language while the entire work in the revenue department where the naib tehsildars will have to work is done in Punjabi only. He also referred to selection of “outside candidates” from states like Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana at the cost of the rights of Punjabi candidates.
Punjab Youth Congress president Brinder Dhillon also urged chief minister Bhagwant Mann to order a probe into the recruitment as other aspirants are agitated.
PPSC refutes claims
Hours after Khaira’s press conference, the PPSC released a statement, saying that it has a sound internal process, which ensures the conduct of any recruitment in an objective and transparent manner.
“In light of the allegations made today with regards to publication of the list of successful candidates for the post of naib-tehsildar, the commission has reviewed the procedures and methods followed for the conduct of the said examination and found that there is no evidence to suggest that the recruitment process was compromised in any manner,” the commission said.
“The Commission is neither aware nor concerned with the past performance of the candidates in other examinations and neither does it believe that the performance of a candidate in one examination has a bearing on any other examination,” it stated.
The examination for recruitment to the post of naib-tehsildar was based on multiple choice questions only and there was no interview as the post is a Group ‘B’ post. Hence there was no personal interface with the candidates, read the press release.
