CM orders probe into khadi board selections

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 25

The state government today ordered a probe into the allegations of illegal appointment of candidates on various posts in the Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) after the name of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s cousin brother surfaced in the selection list.

Aroot Madni, son of the ruling PDP’s vice-president and CM’s maternal uncle Sartaj Madni, has been appointed as the executive officer in the KVIB through a selection process which suffered procedural inadequacies.

The selection of Aroot, who is also PDP’s youth president in the Devsar Assembly constituency in south Kashmir, was first reported by The Tribune, creating a storm in the social and political circles of Kashmir. After sharp public criticism, the Chief Minister directed “holding of a high-level inquiry into the procedural inadequacies” in the selection process of the KVIB, the results of which were declared a couple of days ago.

“The inquiry would be held by a committee headed by the Chief Secretary and it has been asked to furnish its report in a short time,” a government spokesperson said.

Examination controller Abdul Majid Bhat, who is also the Commissioner Secretary, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, had raised allegations with the J&K Police in a letter last year. “There are some complaints against the examination process that it was not fair as the administrative secretary of Industries and Commerce also reported the same to me verbally,” Bhat had written to Abdul Gani Mir, IGP, CID, on September 4 last year. Bhat had requested the CID to kindly make an in-depth verification in the matter, so that it is ensured that the process was transparent and no favours were made to any candidate. Iftikhar Ashraf, a dropout candidate, filed a Right to Information (RTI) query on December 13, 2017, seeking scanned copies of the answer key and answersheets of all shortlisted candidates. However, till date, the KVIB hasn’t responded to his query. The dropout candidates alleged that the government deliberately hired the services of LME&S Private Ltd, a private recruiting firm, for conducting the written examination. Instead of a set norm of 80:20 mark ratio for the written exam and interview, the government had set 60 marks for the written test, 30 for the interview and 10 for the work experience for selection in the KVIB.

Official sources said Aroot didn’t figure among the top candidates in the shortlist, but was on the second position both in the interview and the final list.

“While on average, candidates got 16 or 17 marks in the interview, Aroot was given 26 marks to push him up in the selection list. No one among the shortlisted candidates had any work experience,” they said. Dropout candidates said laws were flouted while conducting interviews as the government called the candidates for the interview in a ratio of 1:15 and not as per the set standard of 1:3. “They (private agency) called 15 candidates for one post,” admitted Achal Sethi, chairman of the interview panel. Minutes after the government ordered a probe, Aroot shot a letter to the secretary and the chief executive officer, KVIB, tendering his resignation. “I don’t want that my selection and its politicisation affects their (other selected candidates) prospects…I, therefore, tender my resignation from the post of the executive officer,” reads Aroot’s letter.