Bengal to bring fresh recruitment policy to curb hiring irregularities: CM Adhikari

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said the state government will introduce a fresh recruitment policy in the next budget session to curb irregularities in public sector hiring.

“The state government will launch a fresh recruitment policy in the next budget session. We shall introduce bills in the next Assembly to support the new policy,” Adhikari said while addressing the 19th Rozgar Mela organised by the Eastern Railway in Kolkata.

Hinting that the state government might follow the recruitment rules adopted by the Railway Recruitment Board, paramilitary forces and other central government organisations, he said, “West Bengal has been utterly maligned due to the teacher recruitment scam and the municipality recruitment scam. The Supreme Court and Calcutta high court had to intervene. Around 26,000 jobs were cancelled.”

He alleged that the examination centres became so “vilified that Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway had to shift their recruitment examination centres to Bihar, Odisha and Assam.”

“We have to bail out our state from this situation,” he said.

Large-scale allegations of irregularities had surfaced in recruitments in schools and civic bodies during the Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime. The Calcutta high court had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into the allegations. Multiple TMC leaders, including legislators, were arrested.

Adhikari further said, “I believe that candidates should get a carbon copy of the OMR sheets (they fill during the examination). At present, the carbon copy is not handed over to the candidates. It is a very bad practice and is done with mala fide intention to encourage corruption and nepotism. Huge marks are allocated in the viva (oral) exams. This isn’t a good practice.”

“We would also abide by the 100-point roster related to reservations. The scores of candidates would be displayed on websites and appointment letters won’t be sent through WhatsApp messages,” he added.

CBI investigation into the school recruitment scam had earlier revealed that OMR sheets of recruitment examinations were tampered to include names of candidates who failed in the exam in the merit list in lieu of money.