GUWAHATI, Oct 2 - Absence of an independent board or commission for recruitment of non-Gazzetted staff is being felt by government officials in the State following the raging controversy over the SI recruitment paper leak case.
Most of the States in the country have either a board or a commission � Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board, Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission, Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission, etc., � for conducting recruitment for civil posts, particularly Grade III and Grade IV.
Controversies in recruitment processes are a regular feature in Assam. Many a time the recruitments are challenged in courts, leading to stalling of the process for years.
The recruitment for the Gazzetted posts is done by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC). �However, there is no agency to conduct recruitment for the non-Gazzetted posts. The administrative departments are not in a position to conduct the recruitment due to the lack of resources, and as such nowadays it is being pushed to the State Level Police Recruitment Board,� a senior government official said.
�In earlier days, there were not so many applications and they used to come by posts. It was easier to handle then. Today, we get lakhs of applications for a few posts. Everything is online. You need to set up thousands of examination centres. The administrative departments do not have the manpower or other resources to conduct such massive exercise,� the official added, suggesting that such a board is the only solution to the plaguing issues.
In other States, the administrative departments report their vacancies to the subordinate services selection boards or commissions which conduct the recruitment.
�The question papers are also set up by independent bodies like universities and it is not easy to leak papers in such setups. When a government department is conducting the exercise, chances of malpractices, like paper leaks, are much more,� the officials said.
The original mandate of the State Level Police Recruitment Board, which was formed a few years back, was to recruit constables and sub-inspectors. The board�s functioning has now come under scanner after its former members claimed that they were never called for any meetings. Questions are also being raised on its expertise in handling such recruitments for different departments. It has been outsourcing all the recruitment to vendors whose credentials have also come under scrutiny after the SI paper leak case.
