Sources claim Standing Committee buckled under pressure from councillors, who refer party workers in PMC, and restricted contract period between corporation and MKCL -- to whom civic body outsourced its recruitment drive -- to just 6 months
After persistent follow-ups by the PMC officials, the Standing Committee finally approved the much-awaited proposal of conducting online recruitment for class II to class IV employees through a third party to avoid political interference. But an amendment reduced the contract period between the civic body and the agency to just six months.
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Sources in the PMC said the amendment was forced by corporators who do not want transparency in the recruitment process, as it would hamper the practice of recommending workers from their respective parties for various posts in the corporation.
Considering the vast number of applications it receives for various posts, PMC officials had been demanding the appointment of a third party to execute the recruitment procedure -- from conducting exam to shortlisting candidates for interviews -- to bypass political interference.
“For the recruitment of class II, III and IV employees, MKCL would be responsible for the entire selection procedure. It includes receiving online applications, conducting written exam and shortlisting candidates for interviews. While charge for the online application will be Rs 125, the MKCL will also get Rs 165 as exam fee. They will shortlist the candidates following which civic body officials will conducted the interviews,” Standing Committee Chairperson Vishal Tambe said.
Commenting on the issue, Deputy Municipal Commissioner and HRD chief Mangesh Joshi said currently the PMC has been conducting recruitment procedure manually, which was time-consuming. “We receive about 2,000 applications for a single vacancy, so making an appointment for that particular post takesabout six to eight months. Through online process, the procedure will be completed at its earliest. There are 1,200 vacant posts. The proposal will be beneficial for the upcoming recruitment.”
When questioned whether the Standing Committee bowed down to the pressure from corporators in restricting the contract period to just six months, Tambe said, “We will evaluate MKCL’s work first and then decide whether to extend the contract or not. A fresh tender will be floated after six months.” u00a0