Some serious irregularities in the process of recruitment of 2,268 home guards by the state civil defence department might led to the scrapping of the entire recruitment process. Some employees as well as officers have decided to write to the governor as well as the accountants general (AG) of West Bengal about these gross irregularities.
The state Cabinet in January gave its nod to the recruitment process on the condition that it must follow the existing procedure as mentioned in the Home Guards Acts and Rules and the finance department guidelines. According to it, the deputy general (home guards) is supposed to be the head of the recruitment committee. However, the appointment of S.L. Bhakat, a retired IAS officer, as the head of the recruitment committee is a “serious breach” to the relevant acts and rules as well as the finance department guidelines.
Mr Bhakat, the former civil defence secretary, had retired on March 31. By April 7, he was re-appointed by state civil defence Javed Khan as OSD (officer-on-special-duty) to the minister in the rank of secretary. The minister also issued a standing instruction that N.R. Banerjee, the then secretary of the department, would only look after the policy and statutory matters and the day-to-day functions and the matter pertaining to enrolment to home guards would be overseen by Mr Bhakat.
“It has never happened in the state administration that a retired officer has been re-appointed as OSD to a minister in the rank of secretary with all executive powers. Within few days after being re-appointed, Mr Bhakat was made the head of the home guards recruitment committee with the blessings of the minister. Moreover, since this issue is completely a policy matter, the file should have been routed through Mr Banerjee, but he was totally bypassed. These are all gross irregularities and we will seek the intervention of governor as well as the AG,” a senior official of the civil defence department, who wished not to be identified, said.
Mr Banerjee, an IAS officer of 1981-batch and presently posted as additional chief secretary in the West Bengal government, wrote to the minister Mr Khan as well as chief secretary Samar Ghosh, informing them about irregularities in the recruitment process. But no action was taken and Mr Banerjee was removed from this portfolio. “Had the chief secretary taken up the matter with the chief minister, this serious administrative goof-up would not have happened. Now the entire recruitment process will be scrapped as and when governor and AG intervenes,” an IAS officer said.