The West Bengal government has begun seeking detailed information on contractual Group D employees working across its departments, with the exercise aimed at checking whether their appointments followed the applicable rules, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin. Departments have been instructed to submit the information in a prescribed format by 6 November.
The reported directive requires departments to provide details of contractual Group D employees working under their control. The information is being collected as the state government examines whether appointments made under the previous administration complied with the rules governing such recruitment.
The first appointments under scrutiny are reportedly from the Irrigation Department. The government is examining whether the recruitment of contractual Group D employees in that department followed a directive issued on 16 September 2011. Particular attention will be given to whether the provisions contained in clauses 9, 11 and 14 of that directive were followed.
Sangbad Pratidin reported that senior Nabanna officials described the exercise as a verification of recruitment-related information across different state government departments. The report did not provide the total number of contractual Group D employees covered by the exercise or specify whether the verification would lead to disciplinary or legal action in cases where irregularities are found.
The move comes against the backdrop of allegations concerning recruitment processes in several parts of the state government system, including schools and government offices. The latest exercise, however, is a verification process and does not by itself establish that any individual appointment was illegal or irregular.
The issue also affects the employment status of contractual workers. Manoj Chakraborty, chief adviser to the All Bengal Contractual Employees’ Association, told Sangbad Pratidin that the association wanted the government to establish whether appointments had been made according to the rules. He also said the association was seeking permanent status for the contractual employees.
The department-wise data collection places the administrative record at the centre of the process. The government will need to compare appointment details with the requirements of the 2011 directive, including the provisions identified for review, before determining whether any recruitment process failed to meet the prescribed standards.
The immediate deadline reported for departments to submit the information is 6 November. The supplied report does not state when the government will publish the findings of the verification exercise or what action will follow after the records are examined.
