Editorial
Tell-tale recruitment policy
Merit sacrificed at the political altar
The government's dramatic decision not to henceforth fill up any vacant post is neither cost-saving nor is it geared to raising the level of administrative efficiency. The lid on employment however will not be applicable to contractual appointments and recruitment to various cadre services. The move is going to severely restrict appointment of five lakh job seekers in the lower administrative grades. In immediate terms, there are 1,50,000 vacant posts of second, third and fourth class employees together with vacancies in the non-cadre gazetted officers ranks. Actually, appointment to 50,000 non-cadre posts in different ministries and divisions has been under process till Wednesday when the moratorium took effect. Evidently, the government's appointment shutdown has thrown thousands of job hopefuls out of gear, greatly aggravating the problem of educated unemployment. One might think that this is an impolitic gambit prior to the polls, but the calculation seems to lie somewhere else. The door has been flung open to loyalists, favourites and cronies of the ruling party or coalition to be absorbed into key positions under contractual appointments. So, it seems that a recruitment moratorium is being applied on a certain category of inconsequential jobs to make room and keep provision for appointment on contract to favourites. This is like part of a choreographed concert played out in an orchestrated fashion. What are the other parts of the play? Well, citing crisis in the field level administration, 200 magistrates are planned to be specially recruited through an abridgement of test procedures. Also, under a revised rule, dating back to 1982, appointment to the BCS educational cadre will not be subject to as stringent criterion as had been followed beforehand. Then we hear about special BCS exams for recruitment of police officers and despatch of half-trained cops to field positions prior to polls. The poll implications are obviously there to read into the moves. What is perhaps no less worrying is day-to-day governance in a context where the administration is riddled with wrong people in wrong places. The prime minister has time and again stressed merit, eligibility and neutrality as the prerequisites for good administration. The nation urges her to ensure that administrative norms are not compromised.
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