Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 15 Sep: Agriculture Director Anong Lego on Thursday said that his department followed the guidelines issued by the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) and followed the 1:8 ratio while selecting candidates for various posts.
At least 2,000 candidates had applied for 32 posts in the department in the recently conclude examination for appointment under various KVKs. Out of them, more than 100 candidates were shortlisted on 18 and 19 August this year, based on the advertisement that had been floated in March 2021.
Interestingly, six candidates whose names were not there in the shortlist were selected. The results were out on 4 September.
The director informed that “many candidates who were shortlisted have been absorbed in other jobs since it was advertised a year ago, and, in order to meet the 1:8 ratio, the candidates who were not shortlisted were included for the viva voce.”
Lego further informed that the candidates were shortlisted “based on the academic performance index.”
Agriculture Joint Director Ojong Yomso informed that one of the candidates, Debia Taje’s “de-selection was due to clerical error on the department’s side.”
When contacted, Taje said that he had written an application to the department, with his qualifications enclosed. Later, he was allowed to take the viva voce, and was selected.
Besides, in a document furnished by the joint director, one Dr Nagung Camdir Tok, whose name was reflected in the selected list but not in the shortlist, said that he had submitted an application with his eight years of experience enclosed.
The department could not provide proper input regarding the process of selection of the other selected candidates.
One of the candidates, who was shortlisted but was not selected for the viva voce, informed this reporter that the five board members did not even check their documents during the viva voce.
Another candidate said that “the department should at least have informed the shortlisted candidates of the inclusion of other candidates.”
The candidate also claimed that “the mark scoring was not submitted.”
Yomgo said that “the department will soon respond to all the RTIs filed by the selected students on their mark score.”
He said also that no candidate approached the department for the mark score. “If asked, the department could have furnished,” he added.
