Jaipur: It's seldom that a non-administrative person is given a chance to lead the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (
RPSC). However, the state government on Friday announced the name of Dr Radhey Shyam Garg, a medical practitioner with a RSS-background, as its new chairman.
The nomination of Dr Garg, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's sarsanghchalak of Dholpur district, as the new chairman of RPSC came as a surprise for many.
A non-political figure, little known beyond Dholpur, Dr Garg was an unexpected choice for the post, which in the past had been often held by retired bureaucrats.
Born in May 1956, Garg is sarsanghchalak of the Dholpur district of the RSS since 1997 and belongs to one of the most prominent and influential families of the district. His role as the RSS honcho will end when he takes over as the RPSC chairman, which he is likely to be on Monday.
According to local residents, Garg is an active social worker, associated with several organisations in Dholpur. He is also the head of the local unit of the Red Cross Society. A surgeon himself, he runs a hospital and a school for the mentally challenged in Dholpur, which is also the home district of chief minister Vasundhara Raje and her MP son Dushyant Singh, who are members of the erstwhile royal family of Dholpur. Despite being associated with the RSS, Garg is said to share a cordial relationship with the CM. Garg's brother is associated with the local BJP unit.
Garg's tenure at the RPSC will end in six months when he completes 62 in May. The norms make it mandatory for the RPSC chairman to retire at the age of 62 years or after six years - whichever is earlier.
BOX: Hope for the unemployed
Ajmer: The nomination of Dr Radhey Shyam Garg as the RPSC chairman has come as a relief for hundreds of unemployed youths, who are now hopeful about RPSC initiating the recruitment process soon.
The process of selection to about 12,500 vacancies is pending with the commission while about 10,000 new jobs in various services are expected to be announced in the coming months. At present, the selection of about 9,500 second grade teachers pending as well as about 600 posts for college lecturers out of 1,040 vacancies. The process of examination for 911 posts in RAS 2017 and 330 of SIs in Rajasthan Police is also pending. Similarly, the selection for 211 posts in agriculture department and 267 in different departments has also to be completed.
The posts have been lying vacant for the past two months since the retirement of Shyam Sunder Sharma, a member of the RPSC who was in charge since the retirement of Lalit K Panwar. Panwar retired in July 2017.
