JNU's visually impaired student was not appointed despite court's directions. He pinned all hopes on the Maharashtra CM
JNU's visually impaired student was not appointed despite court's directions. He pinned all hopes on the Maharashtra CM
Not everyone is elated with the appointment of Prithiviraj Chavan as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
A visually challenged JNU student, who had cleared his Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination way back in 2006 and is still awaiting appointment, is ruing the fact that Chavan has been sent to Maharashtra. 
Big moment: Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan with the new
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at
the swearing-in ceremony in Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. PIC/ Bipin Khote
Rajesh Kumar Singh had been assured by Chavan, former chief of Department of Personnel and Training, that he would take up his case, but with the latter being promoted as the chief minister of Maharashtra, the student says officials in the department will again manipulate matters and he would have to pursue his case afresh.
Days before Chavan was selected as the new Maharashtra chief minister, Singh had met him. "Chavan gave a patient hearing and helped me a lot. He asked his personal secretary to forward my file to the department concerned. On his direction, the file was also passed on to the Law Ministry. But now with Chavanji being sent to Maharashtra, I fear my appointment will again be put on the backburner."
"There are so many people in the DoPT who are conspiring against me. Now with Chavan no more in the scene, I will have to start my fight against the system all over again," Singh claimed.
He had approached the Supreme Court urging directions to the department for issuing him an appointment letter as soon as possible. The apex court directed the department this year that Singh should be appointed. However, the orders are yet to be implemented.
"Despite court orders, I am waiting for justice. Justice delayed is justice denied," added Singh.
Singh ranked three in the category of blind students' merit list. Ravi Prakash Gupta, who stood fifth, also had to knock on the court's door to get a job.
However, after the appointment of Gupta, the government refused jobs to other visually impaired students, saying no more vacancies there were in the category.
When Gupta had approached the Delhi High Court, it ruled: "In so far as IAS is concerned, 785 vacancies were filled during 1996-2006. Thus in this period, eight vacancies were to be reserved for visually handicapped persons. As against it, only one person belonging to this category was given appointment in the year 2005, leaving seven posts which could be filled in the year 2006. However, in that year only one post from this category has been filled."
The government was asked to issue an appointment letter within six weeks to Gupta and was fined Rs 25,000. The Supreme Court upheld the judgment on September 7 and imposed a further fine of Rs 20,000 on the government. With the verdict Singh, who had become a party to the case, had hoped that this would automatically get him job, especially with the court clearly saying that there were seven vacancies. A notice was also issued in this regard by the apex court on October 21.
"But the government has turned a deaf ear to even the highest court of the land. Officials in the ministry were rude when I went to meet them. Now that my last hope (Chavan) has moved out of the department, I have decided to go to the Prime Minister's office.u00a0 He is my final hope and I am banking on him," added Singh, who scored 165 out of 300 in the interview.
What's with dopt?
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Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) comes under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is the coordinating agency of the Central Government in personnel matters specially issues concerning recruitment, training, career development, staff welfare as well as the post retirement dispensation. The Ministry is also concerned with the process of responsive people-oriented modern administration. Allocation of Business Rules defines the work allotted for the Ministry. The Ministry comprises three Departments - Department of Personnel and Training, Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances.
| Chavan's Role's |
| u00a0Apart from being the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Chavan held the charge of Ministry of Personnel, public grievances and pensions. At the head of Ministry of Personnel, Chavan's area of responsibility included the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which mainly deals with many politically sensitive cases. The ministry is also the cadre controlling authority for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Chavan was made minister of state (independent charge) for science and technology and earth sciences, and minister of state for parliamentary affairs. |
| Results 2010 |
| UPSC had recommended 875 candidates, who cleared the Civil Services (Main) Examination 2009. Out of those chosen for civil posts, 399 were General (including 21 physically-challenged candidates), 273 Other Backward Classes (including 9 physically-challenged candidates), 127 Scheduled Castes and 76 Scheduled Tribes candidates. Among the 30 physically-challenged, 14 were orthopaedically challenged, five visually impaired and 11 are hearing impaired. |
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