Govt takes power engineer posts out of HPSC purview

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 22

The Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) has asked the government to reconsider its decision to take posts of Assistant Engineer (Electrical and Civil) in Haryana Power Utilities (HPUs) out of its purview without its concurrence, sources said.

“The proposal smacks of doubting the integrity and competence of a constitutional authority. The HPSC has always acted in a fair, just, impartial and transparent manner and selection made by it have been upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court from time to time,” the HPSC has said in response to a communication from the government .

Ignoring the HPSC’s disagreement, the HPUs have released an advertisement for vacant posts as on May 31, 2017, on the basis of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), 2017.

In its communication dated June 22 to the HPSC, the government said the requisition for these posts had been made many times but it could not fructify due to a ‘lengthy recruitment process and political interference.’

Without waiting for the HPSC’s response, the Cabinet on June 28 decided to take out 133 posts of Assistant Engineer (Electrical) and eight posts of Assistant Engineer (Civil) in all four state power utilities of the purview of the commission.

The cabinet also decided that these posts would now be filled on the basis of GATE score only without any interview. The government’s move has drawn mixed reactions from some prospective candidates.

While some have hailed it as a welcome move, others maintain the decision will rob engineering graduates from Haryana of employment since few from the state make it to the GATE merit list.

“I passed my B.Tech almost a decade back. Today, I am 38 and as per government’s criterion of age limit, I am eligible for the posts. But to take GATE, which essentially is a test for seeking admission to PG courses, I will have to go to the basics again at this stage,” said an aspirant.

Rajan Gupta, ACS (Power Department), said all future appointments of assistant engineers in the HPUs would be held on the basis of GATE score since it would ensure transparency.

Gupta dismissed apprehensions that youths from Haryana would not be able to make it as 4,000 engineering graduates from the state cleared GATE last year.