From Jan, 100% of govt recruitment to be through staff selection panel

Panaji: CM Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday that from January, recruitment for all posts in government departments will be done through the Goa staff selection commission. He said that this system will put an end to the present opaque recruitment process, which involves favours from MLAs. “From now on, if someone wants a job, they will have to apply directly with the staff selection commission,” he said. “All government recruitment, 100% of it, whether multitasking staff, clerks, officers, and all other grades, will be filled through competitive exams conducted by the commission.”
Sawant’s move has already irked some of his cabinet colleagues, who are planning to meet him to impress upon the CM not to implement the proposal. Sources said the ministers are unhappy as it would curb their power to get candidates recruited in their departments.
Sawant criticised the practice of seeking jobs from MLAs. “In Goa, there was a wrong concept that people went to the MLA asking for jobs. This practice of going to MLAs’ homes stops now,” he said.
In 2019, the state established the staff selection commission to conduct examinations and select candidates for appointments to government departments.
Interestingly, in January 2021, it was Sawant who amended the commission’s norms, allowing departments to bypass the commission during the recruitment process. While Sawant had justified the amendment by claiming that it would allow government departments to expedite recruitment, the subsequent process to recruit 10,000 government employees was riddled with allegations of corruption, irregularities, and nepotism.
Several candidates and activists challenged the recruitment process of 1,372 candidates by PWD, Goa Medical College, the directorate of health services, and other departments. In June, the state government told the high court of Bombay at Goa that it has scrapped the selection list of PWD junior engineers because of irregularities in the process.
In the runup to the February assembly elections, Panaji MLA and present labour and employment minister Atanasio Monserrate had openly criticised the government recruitment process, blaming Sawant and health minister Vishwajit Rane for only allotting jobs to residents of Valpoi and Sattari.
Sawant is now singing a different tune. “The Goa government will recruit 100% of its staff through competitive exams held through the staff selection commission henceforth,” he said at the government’s job fair at Taleigao. “This will ensure that the best performers get selected.”
One in five govt employees don’t work, will be sent home: CM
Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant once again had truant government employees in his cross hairs, insisting that 20% of government employees are slacking and shirking their responsibilities.
“I have to say this: government employees don’t work,” he said. “Today also, 20% of government employees are underperforming and lethargic. I won’t hesitate to say this. I am going to send all these 20% on compulsory retirement,” said Sawant.
This is the third time that Sawant has fired a salvo at government employees, and he did not stop at that.
“Many youths want government jobs because they think they will get a pension. But pensions have been stopped. Then they think about job security. Many wanted government jobs because they thought they would not have to work. Today, even government employees need to work, otherwise they are sent on compulsory retirement,” said Sawant.