Job aspirants at JSACS left in lurch due to pending recruitment process

Ranchi: Hundreds of job aspirants who applied for various contractual positions on the basis of advertisements floated by the Jharkhand State Aids Control Society (JSACS) since 2019 are still waiting and groping in the dark despite paying application fees ranging between Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. JSACS is funded by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and is managed by the state health department.
JSACS floated two recruitment ads to hire on contractual basis in mid 2019 and November 2020, claimed applicants. In 2019, it invited applications for over 100 posts of data manager, counselor and lab technician, among others, across the districts. Applicants were asked to apply for the job by paying Rs 500. Similarly, in 2020, it came out with advertisement for eight posts including joint director (TI), joint director (IEC), deputy director (ICTC) and procurement assistant. Candidates were asked to pay Rs 1,000 as application fees. The recruitment process for the post of joint director (TI), joint director (IEC), deputy director (ICTC) and procurement assistant was yet to commence eight months down the line, said a few applicants.
A candidate for the post of deputy director said, “I have applied via the official recruitment portal of Jharkhand government and paid Rs 1,000 online via credit card as payment from debit card was not accepted. I am still waiting for the recruitment process to start.” A candidate and resident of Dhurwa, who applied for the post of counselor told TOI, “It has been more than two years and I don’t know why the process has not been started yet. After such a long gap, I am not expecting anything. I have lost hope.”
She added, “Ironically, the state government has declared 2021 as the year of recruitment but on the ground, people are either losing jobs or are waiting in dark hoping for commencement of recruitment process.”
Notably, after an applicant filed an RTI with JSACS in the month of March this year to know the status of the pending recruitment process for advertisement issued last year, Malendra Kumar, the HR at JSACS, in the reply had stated, “Process to fill remaining four posts is under process.”
Nothing has moved since then. When contacted, JSACS project director Bhuvanesh Pratap Singh said that he will have to look into the details to make any comments. He, however, said that usually it is considered to be cancelled if recruitment process remains stalled for so long. Applicants, however, said that JSACS has not made any formal announcement as per the norms for any recruitment. “What about the application fees,” asked one candidate. Singh promised to refund in cases that are deemed fit. “Applicants can come to JSACS office with proper details to seek refund in that case,” he said.