Mehbooba’s cousin gets govt job, aspirants allege favouritism

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar February 23

The appointment of Syed Aroot Madni, son of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s maternal uncle Sartaj Madni, who is also the vice-president of the Peoples Democratic Party, as an executive officer of the Khadi Village and Industries Board has raised eyebrows over the selection list of the candidates for various posts.

Dropout candidates have alleged that the selection of candidates for various posts was handed over to a private recruitment agency instead of the J&K Service Selection and Recruitment Board. They alleged that Aroot was selected on the basis of his political influence and did not have the required qualification for the post. “I have been selected through a recruitment process consisting of a written test and an interview. You can further enquire from the Khadi Village and Industries Board,” said Aroot, whose Facebook page reveals that he is the PDP’s youth president of the Devsar Assembly constituency in south Kashmir.

The Khadi Village and Industries Board (KVIB) had advertised various posts, including the posts of the executive officer, on October 8, 2016. The shortlisted candidates appeared in the written test in August 2017 and the interviews were held in the last week of January.

Director, KVIB, Rashid Qadri denied any role in the selection list of the candidates for various posts. “We had no role at all in the examination. The government had appointed the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Commissioner Secretary as the Controller Examination and he hired a credible private recruiting agency from outside,” Qadri said. He said the officers of the KVIB were not associated with the examination at any stage till the selection list was out. Commissioner Secretary, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Majid Bhat said the KVIB had given them the list of eligible candidates whose examination was to be conducted for various posts. “All candidates were selected in a transparent manner by a credible private recruitment agency. We did not know the names of the shortlisted or selected candidates till the end,” Bhat said.

Officials said relatives of several sitting ministers and politicians had applied for various posts in the KVIB but they were not selected. After the written examination, the government had appointed an interview board which was headed by Special Secretary, Law, Achal Sethi. “I don’t know anyone from the selected candidates. We even didn’t know the number of marks obtained by the candidates in the written test,” Sethi said. He said the members of the interview panel didn’t share with each other the marks awarded to the candidates. Angry over the public criticism of his son’s appointment as the executive officer in the KVIB, Sartaj Madni has reportedly said that children of political workers also have the right to exist with dignity. “If they don’t have the right of a dignified life then bring them to Lal Chowk and hang them,” he said.