Favouritism by MDCs towards relatives or constituents in jobs in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) is not strictly unfair as the council has never had a proper recruitment policy, the incumbent Chief Executive Member, Pyniaid Sing Syiem, said yesterday.
Syiem was speaking at a public forum for candidates of the Nongthymmai constituency.
In response to a question posed by the debate moderator regarding the perception that jobs in the district councils favour individuals with ties to MDCs in the executive committee, Syiem stated, “I would not term this as an unfair act because since 1972, even though we have the service rules, there has been no recruitment policy in the district council to outline how recruitment should be conducted.”
The National People’s Party (NPP) candidate further mentioned that the executive committee, under his leadership as the CEM, has sent a proposal to the state government, including a copy to the Governor, to review and potentially revoke appointments made since 2000.
Additionally, he criticised the opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP), which has made corruption one of its main talking points, asserting, “You talk of clean politics, but the VPP leader (Ardent M Basaiawmoit) is unclean because he removed 12 contractual workers and appointed individuals from his Nongkrem constituency instead.”
He added, “I have the list of names and I can prove it. All I want to say is that all political parties have been involved in recruiting their people in the district council.”
However, he personally distanced himself from the practice saying that under his tenure, job applications from all constituencies are considered and not all jobs are given based on party affiliation.
Syiem also claimed that he was responsible for regularising the positions of contractual workers who have served in the council for over 21 years. He maintained that these individuals come from different constituencies and do not necessarily benefit him or have the ability to vote in his favour.
