Questions over transparency as MMC bypasses SSC for recruitment process

With Stage-I of the recruitment process coming to an end on November 11, the last date for the submission of application forms, what’s next is a question doing the rounds in the corridors of the civic body and outside.

For, the Margao Municipal Council has no wherewithal to conduct the examination process and will have to rely solely on government agencies to take the recruitment process forward.

When The Goan contacted Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar to shed light on how the civic body would take the recruitment process forward, the civic chief was categorical in saying that the government would write to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the government authorities to shortlist agencies to conduct the examinations for the 13 posts. “As far as I am concerned, I want the entire process to be conducted in a transparent manner. Hence, the civic body will write to the government and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to suggest the agencies to carry forward the process,” he said.

Damu added: “The civic body is in receipt of over 1,500 applications from the job seekers for the 13 vacant posts. Our staff is on the job to scrutinise the applications. We have come across many applications which are not supported by documents. Then there are some applicants who have applied for the SC reserved category. As per the norms, the jobs were only reserved for the ST category, OBC and the visually handicapped.”

Asked to react to reports raising eyebrows over the MMC recruitment process with many questioning the recruitment by bypassing the Staff Selection Commission, the civic chief said the Margao Municipal Council is carrying out the process as per the rules in force. “There is no illegality in the ongoing recruitment process. The entire process is being conducted in a transparent manner. The Margao Municipal Council is an employer and is empowered to fill up the vacant posts,” he added.

The MMC recruitment process, however, has come under attack from Madganvcho Awaaz with youth leader Prabhav Naik repeatedly questioning the government why the recruitment process set in motion by the Margao civic body is not conducted via the Staff Selection Commission. “When Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has time and again reiterated that all C posts will be filled up via the Staff Selection Commission, why is the Margao civic body not mandated to recruit the posts via SSC in the interest of transparency and fair play,” he questioned.

Prabhav added: “This has only thrown up questions on issues of transparency and fair play. We have already given a Memorandum to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to scrap the ongoing recruitment process. We have also demanded to bring an Ordinance to bring all recruitments of local self-governing bodies under Staff Selection Commission. There’s still time left for the government to scrap the process and fill up the post via the SSC.”

New recruitment process comes with old concerns

MARGAO: The ongoing recruitment process initiated by the Margao Municipal Council is in the news for the simple reason that a similar process undertaken by the civic body around a year ago was scrapped by the government.

That time round, the process initiated to recruit seven LDCs was cancelled after then Director of Municipal Administration Gurudas Pilarnekar had written to the MMC Chief Officer that Urban Development Minister Vishwajit Rane has favoured recruitments in Municipal Councils via the Staff Selection Commission.

Questions are being asked in the corridors of the civic body and outside the changing circumstances in the last one year that have paved way for the Margao Municipal Council to kick-start the recruitment process once again.

The recruitment process has also come under the public scanner following reports that a section of ruling councillors had insisted on jobs for their kith and kin in lieu of extending support to the BJP to return back to power in the Margao civic body after a gap of 17 years.