MCD sacked library employees stage violent protest

Soon after Mayor Kunwar Sen announced the sacking of employees at a press conference,about 400 people ransacked his office and pelted stones at the Town Hall.

The MCD sacked the employees acting on recommendations of a retired judge’s report which held the appointments made by the previous Congress dispensation as “illegal and void”.

“The retired judge has held the mass appointment as illegal and void in entirety and the jobs are liable to be annulled from their inception,” Sen told reporters.

Angry over the announcement,a group of employees rampaged the the Mayor’s office while another group hurled stones at the building. Police,which used force to bring the situation under control,escorted Sen to safety.

The MCD cancelled the appointment of 799 employees of the library,which has 31 branches across the city,on the recommendation of G P Thareja,a retired additional district and sessions judge. The appointments were made on April 1,2006.

The sacked employees,appointed between April 1,2006 and June 7,2007,were not getting their salaries since taking up the jobs.

Asked whether former Mayor Farhad Suri and then Municipal Secretary Ashok Jain will face action,Sain said the MCD has appointed a committee to look into the probe report and a decision in this regard will be taken on the basis of its recommendations.

The Mayor also said departmental action will be taken against officials involved in these appointments.

Thareja,however,had not recommended any action against Suri and Jain or any other officials in his 200-page report.

Sain said the MCD can again appoint qualified people from among those sacked. “The irregularities include appointment of 15-year-old and 50-year-old people. Moreover,majority of them were unqualified,” he said.

At present,the Hardyal Library has 111 employees which include 87 permanent ones,20 daily wagers and four part-timers.

According to Thareja’s report,the posts for 799 employees were not there but created afresh. It also noted that there was no budgetary provision to finance their salaries.

The retired judge also noted that there was no proper advertisement for inviting applications for the jobs and that the pasting of notices on library’s notice board was not adequate enough.