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February 20: The proposal to interview 350 candidates short-listed for the post of peons in the municipal corporation on Sunday has been put...

February 20: The proposal to interview 350 candidates short-listed for the post of peons in the municipal corporation on Sunday has been put on hold after standing committee members claimed that municipal secretary Sudha Khire had not taken their permission to conduct the interviews.

Khire had forwarded the proposal to interview the candidates to committee members today. However, Ravindra Pawar Congress objected to the interview, saying Khire had violated the rules of the corporation. He alleged irregularities in the short-listing of candidates, adding that Khire did not appoint the mandatory three-member cell which is supposed to conduct the interviews, entrusting the job to the department head clerk instead. quot;Even the employment exchange and social welfare department were not informed of vacancies in the corporation,quot; charged Pawar. He questioned how Khire could call 350 students for an interview without following proper procedures.

quot;The MS had changed the qualifications for certain posts withoutseeking the committee8217;s permission,quot; he claimed. He said there were separate posts for typists in English and Marathi, but Khire had clubbed the two posts, again without informing the committee. Pawar also demanded that the 127 students who were short-listed for clerical posts in September last be withdrawn as permission was not sought even then. The MS had allegedly sent interview letters to some candidates in December last, although the list was finalised in September itself.

Pawar8217;s demand that the proposal be kept on hold and the opinion of the legal department be sought was ratified by standing committee members.

Khire, however, stated that she had followed all the procedures in the recruitment process. However, as the standing committee had rejected her proposal to conduct the interview, she said she would verify the students8217; certificates on Sunday only, as there was no time to inform them of the change in schedule. quot;I don8217;t have any option now. I will meet the candidates, verify their certificatesand then ask them to leave,quot; she said, adding that the interviews would now be conducted only when the committee gave her proposal the go-ahead.

On allegations that interview letters were being sent to candidates for clerical posts in December when the list was finalised in September, she stated that some candidates had approached her department with the letters, but the letters were reportedly forged. However, she did not not see the letters herself, nor did she lodge any complaint either with the police or the municipal commissioner, she said.