Wondering as to why the posts of office assistant and watchman in various government departments were not being filled up based on the marks obtained by candidates, the Madras High Court has directed the Rural Development Department Secretary to frame or amend rules so that recruitment to these posts were made based on minimum qualification.
Pointing out that even MBBS seats were filled up based on Plus Two marks, Justice D. Hariparanthaman asked, “When such is the position, I am at a loss to understand as to why the posts of office assistant and watchman are not filled up based on SSLC marks.”
“In my considered view, it may not be out of place to observe that even written examination may not be necessary for the posts in the lower rung, since time and money of the government would be saved by adopting this simple and transparent procedure, which would instill confidence in the minds of the public on the government in relation to recruitment to those posts,” the judge said.
He further directed the Principal Secretary of Rural Development Department to ensure that rules are framed or amended in such a way that recruitment to the posts of office assistant and watchman are made based on minimum general qualification, i.e., SSLC and also by applying communal roster, for future vacancies.
The fact that appointing office assistants and watchman was being done solely on the basis of interviews and not by the marks obtained by them came to light while hearing a petition filed A. Sathya.
She had submitted that multiple authorities had called for interview for the said posts and without publishing the results of the interviews, further advertisements were being made for the same posts and she further sought to quash overlapping advertisements.
“Even written examination may not be necessary for the posts since time and money of the government would be saved by adopting this simple and transparent procedure”
