Dissolved after paper leak cases, Himachal SSC to be reconstituted

Shimla, Apr 5 (PTI): Dissolved in February in the wake of paper leak cases and other irregularities, the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission would be reconstituted. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced in Vidhan Sabha the reconstituted HPSSC would be headquartered at Hamirpur and no employees from the old SSC would be engaged with the Commission.

New employees would also be engaged on a rotational basis, he said, while replying to a discussion on a resolution under Rule 130 over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process of class III and class IV employee by HP SSC. He said the state government has former the Shanan Committee for the reconstitution of the HPSSC. The committee would give its report in the next three months, he said, adding the constitution of the Commission would be foolproof and transparent with no scope for any kind of irregularities. Assuring that the recruitment process would not be stalled, he said that the reconstitution of the Commission and process to recruit 3000 employees would be initiated by HP Public Service Commission soon, Sukhu said.

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Those who became overage due to the dissolution of the Commission would be given a relief as their age at the date of filling the form would be considered, he said. There was a time when competitive examinations were conducted cleanly, but during the last five years the papers were sold, whether it was for police recruitment or other jobs, he said. There have been irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in universities as well, he said, adding no one guilty of corruption in the SSC would be spared. The government is also considering enacting in the near future a stringent law to curb paper leak case, he said, placing in the House the report of the investigation conducted so far in respect of the SSC cases. Initiating the discussion, Kewal Singh Pathania (Congress) said that impartial investigations should be done in the paper leak case and the guilty should be given stringent punishment.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the Sukhu government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance towards corruption and catching the big fish. Earlier, the matters were closed after booking lower level employees, he alleged. He said that during the tenure of previous BJP government, results of 80 percent interviews were not declared and the BJP MLAs did not come to the house as their deeds were to be discussed. The irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in Himachal Pradesh University and other Universities should also be probed, he demanded.