In J&K House, jobs stay at home, in the family

Here are some:

• Subhash Chander, cousin of Speaker Tara Chand

Speaker Tara Chand says: ‘‘A selected candidate could be anybody’s relative. That doesn’t make the selection process unfair.’’

How is that most of the candidates are relatives of Assembly officials? ‘‘Not everything is fair in this world,’’ he says. But he promises an inquiry if anyone approaches him with a complaint. ‘‘No matter whose relative has been selected, we will cancel his appointment if it has been made in an unfair manner.’’

• Neeraj Sharma, nephew of Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma.

Dy CM Sharma says: ‘‘No, he is a distant relative. I have not played a role in his selection.’’

• Syed Ahmad Wani, brother-in-law of Congress vice-president Abdul Gani Vakil.

Vakil says: ‘‘But he is there on merit. Does it make any difference that he is my relative?’’

• Kunal Shrivastava, a relative of Minister of State for Tourism Jugal Kishore.

Jugal Kishore says: ‘‘He is not that close a relative of mine. He has not been selected on my recommendation.’’

There are several others. They include the sister-in-law of Tara Chand’s private secretary, two sons of a retired section officer of the Assembly and even relatives of the members of the selection committee.

A relative each of two deputy secretaries in the Assembly, Muhammad Ramzan and Sami Ahmad Wani have been recruited. Ramzan first denied that he had a relative on the list but subsequently laughed it off.

In fact, the Assembly Secretariat recruited 55 employees though it had advertised 49 posts. The secretary of J-K Legislative Assembly, Iqbal Ganai, said: ‘‘I agree it is a tragedy but what to do. This happens.’’ Five people from his native village are also on the list.

Though the posts are mostly of junior staff, a majority of the applicants were post-graduates because the recruitment came after seven years of freeze in government recruitment.