Scam In Recruitment To UP House, One Fifth Of Job Go To Official’s Relatives: Report (image-pixabay)

Uttar Pradesh: An investigation by Indian Express has revealed that in a test conducted in 2020-2021 to fill in the administrative positions in the UP Assembly and Legislative Council, a fifth of the jobs has gone to candidates who are relatives of the official. Approximately 2.5 lakh people had applied for the job vacancy.

On the list of the successful candidates are UP Speaker’s PRO and his brother, a minister’s nephew; the son of the legislative council secretariat in-charge; four relatives of the legislative assembly secretariat in-charge; the son and daughter of the department of parliamentary affairs in-charge; the son of a Deputy Lokayukta; and the son of a former officer on special duty to two chief ministers.

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All these candidates were appointed three years ago to the two secretariats that administer the UP legislature. This scam came out when three unsuccessful candidates, Sushil Kumar, Ajay Tripathi, and Amrish Kumar, approached the Allahabad High Court. In the order passed on September 18, 2023, the two-bench judge ordered a CBI probe, calling the process “shocking” and “not less than a recruitment scam” where “hundreds of recruits illegally and unlawfully (were) recruited by an external agency of shaken credence.”

On an appeal by the legislative council, the Supreme Court stayed the CBI probe, and the next hearing is scheduled for January 6, 2025.

The Indian Express investigation revealed that 38 candidates were selected for the two secretariats with links to officials and politicians.

These appointments pertain to posts of at least 15 Review Officers (ROs); 27 Assistant ROs and junior positions. RO is equivalent to a gazetted post with a salary band of Rs 47,600-Rs 1,51,100, and ARO has a pay matrix of Rs 44,900-Rs 1,42,400.

The recruitment has been the subject of multiple petitions in the Allahabad High Court since 2021. The court found that the agency owners who had conducted the examination were previously jailed on charges of alleged manipulation in another recruitment and are on bail with the matter still pending.

The High Court delivered scathing remarks, mainly referring to an amendment in rules that enabled the “scam.” The recruitment of the secretariats was conducted by the UP Public Service Commission till 2016, when the assembly decided to amend the rules and conduct them on its own, followed by the Council in 2019.

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On October 3, 2023, the High Court rejected a review application filed by the Legislative Council. “This court, having perused the original records itself has already recorded its prima facie satisfaction on the substance of allegations levelled… and need not go any further, especially when the Court from the entire gamut of facts would find that it was not less than a recruitment scam, wherein hundreds of recruits have been illegally and unlawfully recruited by an external agency of shaken credence,” it said.

The CBI also registered a Preliminary Enquiry and took possession of the records related to the recruitment until the Supreme Court issued a stay.