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Paper leak: Dissolving staff selection commission no solution, says Jai Ram Thakur
Jai Ram Thakur said that HPSSC, then called Subordinate Services Selection Board, was formed by then BJP government led by former CM Dhumal and was renamed as staff selection commission in 2016. “The government should clarify whether chairman and the members had a role in the paper leak,” he said.
Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday said that whosoever is found guilty in the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC) paper leak case should be punished but disbanding the commission is not a solution to the problem.
Talking to the media in Shimla, Thakur said that the recruitment process of about 4,000 posts had been delayed due to the HPSSC being dissolved and the government should set up an alternate mechanism keeping in mind the future of the youth.
As the recruitment process has been delayed, this may lead to some youth getting excluded due to age criteria, he said.
“If irregularity is found, disbanding it is no solution to the problem,” said Thakur.
He also urged the government to tell the public the alternate arrangement and what is the guarantee that it would be transparent and without a flaw.
“Today, an irregularity has been found related to the registration number of scooters in the transport department. Should it also be closed down permanently?” he asked.
The former chief minister said that the HPSSC, then called Subordinate Services Selection Board, was formed by the then BJP government led by former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and was renamed as staff selection commission in 2016.
It was formed because a report had revealed irregularities in Class 3 and Class 4 posts.
Since then, the HPSSC had been playing a big role in recruitment being done in the state. It was set up in Hamirpur due to the place being in the centre of the state.
As the commission has been shut down, the youth will have to visit Shimla again to participate in the recruitment process, he said.
He also sought more clarity on chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s statement that people from top to bottom were involved in the paper leak.
All the recruitments are done through the secretary of the commission and if the allegations against the secretary are proven, then the strictest action should be taken.
But somewhere it seems that this commission has been closed only to remove the chairman and members of this board.
“The government should clarify whether the chairman and the members had a role in the paper leak,” he said.
He also criticised the chief minister for making a “political speech” during the inauguration of Mandi’s Shivaratri festival.
“Congress flags were put up in the entire Mandi town for the festival, which is unprecedented and condemnable,” he added.
