Hakim orders ‘departmental probe’ into allegations of recruitment scam in civic bodies

In the wake of allegations of a scam in the recruitment of more than 5,000 employees in over 60 municipal bodies in the state, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) department minister Firhad Hakim has ordered an internal departmental enquiry.

Answering the media’s questions during his visit to the Bhawanipore area to inspect the waste segregation process, Hakim, who is also the city Mayor, said that he has ordered an internal departmental enquiry.

He said it is to be seen whether any documents or files are there that indicate any irregularities in the recruitment process to the municipal bodies.

Hakim made it clear that no court orders have come yet ordering any specific action and hence the state government does not want to jump the gun.

He, however, clarified that recruitment to municipal bodies is done via the municipal service commission. It has also been proposed that recruitment of Group D staff in municipal bodies be done under the supervision of District Magistrates, he mentioned.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) that is probing the money trail in the teacher recruitment scam had recently claimed that in due course of their investigation, they have uncovered that more than 5000 positions across 60 municipal bodies in the state were sold in return for vast sums of money.

According to their allegations, none of the persons concerned who secured jobs in the municipal bodies in question went through the legitimate recruitment process.

The ED is said to have stumbled across evidence during their search at the Salt Lake property of a real estate promoter Ayan Seal in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam.

The Central probe agency sleuths have reportedly uncovered several crucial documents relating to copies of advertisements for recruitment for different positions in different municipalities in the state and even some copies of appointment letters.

Sources said that these documents were recovered from the hard disc of the personal computer of Ayan Seal at his residence where sleuths conducted a raid and search operation.