Thanks to a move by the state government in July last year, there is now more of a focus on local language knowledge for posts advertised by the District Selection Committees, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told the Assembly today.
To ensure that locals get the jobs and that certain aspects of certain districts are taken into consideration, Sangma said that on July 24, 2023, the Personnel Department had come out with an office memorandum that states that “it is mandatory for a candidate applying for all categories of the post which fall under the purview of the District Selection Committee to clear a qualifying paper on knowledge of the local language of the district.”
Sangma said that this will ensure that more focus is given to the local community and the local people who reside in that particular district.
He said this in response to a short duration discussion on the delay of the DSCs in conducting exams and issuing results.
Sangma informed the house that the DSCs have been instructed that for recruitment that is done by the committee for posts at the district level, the appointing authority shall forward the reservation roster along with the list of vacancies category-wise to the Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of the DSC, who will compile the vacancies post-wise and advertise the post category-wise as per the reservation roster.
He also informed that the appointing authority for district-level posts will also include appointments made by directorates only in case of any doubt and clarification the DC may refer the matter to the Personnel Department.
Not a single word, “not even a comma or a full stop”, were removed from the state’s reservation policy of 1972, he added to ensure that no “sensitivity or confusion” is caused.
He also justified the practice of scrutinising documents of applicants after they pass their respective tests. As an example, he cited the police where 1 lakh people apply for vacancies. It saves a lot of time to conduct the tests and then scrutinise the documents rather than the other way around.
