122 SP-appointed engineers sacked following HC probe. More dismissals likely

Following an inquiry ordered by the Allahabad High Court 122 assistant engineers of the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam have been sacked. More dismissals were likely as the matter was still before the court.

This was not the first instance of appointments made to various government posts have come under scrutiny.

The inquiry by a two-member panel found gross irregularities in the recruitment process, which began with a written examination in November 2016 and ended over a month later in January 2017. Consequently, their appointments were declared invalid.

In all, 122 assistant engineers, 853 junior engineers and 430 clerks were recruited for the department, which was then headed by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, after the written exam which allegedly “violated all norms”.

Advertisements for the vacancies were also released in November 2016. The ads announced requirement for mechanical, civil, electrical, electronics and communications and computer science graduates for assistant engineers’ posts which did not even exist.

Dissatisfied with the results in which discrepancies were found in the marking of answer sheets several aspirants filed a writ petition challenging the recruitment process.

Chairman of the UP Jal Nigam GB Pattanaik said that government guidelines were ignored by officials responsible for the recruitments.

One of the irregularities was that those recruited were issued appointment letters even as the moral code of conduct for the 2017 assembly elections was in force. Neither the Election Commission’s nor the state government’s permission was sought.

The other irregularity found was that the state government had loaned about Rs 300 crore to the Jal Nigam for disbursement salaries and other expenses on the condition that no recruitment shall be made without the government’s permission. Soon after getting the loan amount Jal Nigam authorities went ahead with the recruitment without taking the government into confidence.

After the dismissal of engineers, the sword now hangs on the 853 junior engineers and 430 clerks.

Also under the cloud is the role of bureaucrat SP Singh, a promotee IAS, who continued to be associated with the department much after his retirement. A blue-eyed officer of his minister Azam Khan, every time an objection was raised against his continuation the government circumvented rules to retain Singh.

According to Pattnaik, the government had ordered special investigation into the criminal conspiracy behind the recruitment scam in Jal Nigam and the next course of action would be decided after the probe report is filed.

A CBI investigation is on in the selections made by the UP Public Service Commission during the tenure of Anil Yadav as Chairman.

The Samajwadi Party government headed by Akhilesh Yadav allegedly allowed favouritism in recruitments and Anil Yadav brazenly and blatantly broke all norms as he went about recruiting members of a particular caste to various government posts.

Despite protests by aspirants for government jobs, the Akhilesh Yadav stood solidly behind Anil Yadav until he was sacked by the Allahabad High Court for his criminal antecedents.

 The Supreme Court confirmed the HC’s order against him.

During last month’s budget session Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced instituting a CBI inquiry into the widespread malaise. He said that allegations of subverting the UPPSC’s recruitment process had hurt its image and the credibility of the state government.    

The recruitment of 22,500 police constables during the SP rule between 2004 and 2006 also faced investigation on charges of corruption. Mayawati ordered an inquiry into the allegations of irregularities. Subsequently, appointment of 18,000 jawans of UP police and Provincial Armed Constabulary was cancelled.

An inquiry committee found prima facie evidence against the then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for pressurising bureaucrats to sanction an unduly large number of posts of constables despite finance department’s objections.