[Bengia Ajum]
ITANAGAR, 25 Aug: The recruitment for 37 Group A, B and C posts in various Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) of the state is being conducted by the agriculture department.
The walk-in interview recruitment process has come under the scanner with several candidates raising concern over the recruitment process. The department has shortlisted candidates and invited them for the interview. The interview process, which started on Thursday, is expected to end on 30 August.
“There is no clarity on how they shortlisted candidates for the interview. Many deserving candidates could not make it to the list. The department should clarify the whole recruitment process,” said a candidate who did not wish to be named.
There is also an allegation that the department is not following the condition specified in the advertisement.
“As per the original advertisement, there should be a written test if the numbers of candidates are very high. Now so many complaints of candidates missing out from the lists are emerging. The department should have first conducted a written test and then conducted a walk-in-interview,” the candidate added.
Some experts have even raised eyebrows over the method used to shortlist the candidates.
“The department did not conduct written exams but formed a committee to screen out many of the candidates, based on marks obtained starting from Class 10 onwards. This is a deviation from the original advertisement. This is also a mockery of the exam itself because maximum posts are for subject matter specialists, which means that the selection should be based on marks obtained during the specialisation level, ie, postgraduate level, wherein students go for specific subjects like agronomy, horticulture, home science, agronomy, etc. That’s why they are called ‘subject matter specialists’, such as agronomists, horticulturists, plant pathologists, etc. How is the department going to justify the inclusion of Class 10 or Class 12 marks criteria for specialised posts?” questioned an expert from the State Horticulture Research & Development Institute (SHRDI).
Further complicating the situation, the land donors of Dibang Valley and Kurung Kumey districts recently announced that they are withdrawing the consent given to use the plots of land they had donated to establish the KVKs in the two districts. They alleged that the department has not kept the promise of keeping Group C posts reserved for the land donors – a promise that was made at the time of the donation of land.
The SHRDI recently clarified that “the KVKs in Dibang Valley and Kurung Kumey districts are under SHRDI, department of horticulture, not under the department of agriculture, and therefore the recruitment interviews being conducted by the agriculture department for these two particular districts are not tenable or in accordance with the norms of the ICAR, wherein the host organisation, ie, the SHRDI, has to conduct the exam.”
The SHRDI while nullifying the recruitment process also announced that it will conduct the exam at an appropriate time, adding that recruitment for officer level posts will be conducted through the APPSC, “or with due consultation,” and that “recruitment for the lower grade posts will be held in the districts under the deputy commissioners, giving due preference to the qualified candidates of the land donor families in lower grade jobs, as assured earlier during the time of land acquisition.”
Responding to the allegation, the agriculture director said that the recruitment is being done fairly. “There is no question of foul play. We are following the guidelines of the ICAR and their officials are helping us in the whole recruitment process,” said Agriculture Director A Lego.
