By Express News Service
KOLKATA: Mohammad Akher (name changed on request) dreamt of teaching students in a school after clearing the SSC examination five years ago. But fortune had something else in store for him. Now, instead of a chalk in hand, he is hoping to carry a pair of shears. Akher is one of more than 35,000 applicants who have queued up for a one-year contractual government job to cut grass and catch snakes.
Reflecting the sorry state of job opportunities in Bengal, the applicants, many with higher educational qualifications, have filled up the form for the temporary post of 445 Bana Sahayak in the forest department. Though the forest department mentioned Class VIII pass as the eligibility, thousands of graduate and postgraduate candidates applied for the job which offers Rs 10,000 per month. Many of the applicants passed the SSC examination but are yet to receive appointment letters as school teachers.
Youths for the temporary job will be recruited in Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, North and South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.
“Examinations for government jobs have come a halt. In many cases, getting a job without having political connections is not possible. Besides, even after clearing exams, receiving the appointment letter takes many years. I have no option left other than applying for this one-year contractual job with monthly remuneration of Rs 10,000,” said Akher, a postgraduate.
In the government notification, it has been clearly mentioned: “The post is purely temporary and contractual. The incumbent will not have any claim to any service benefits provided to permanent employees of the government of West Bengal. The engagement shall be for one year initially. The incumbent may continue to be engaged on an annual basis on the recommendation of the Head of the Office where engaged.”
Officials of the forest department were surprised while going through the applications. Admitting the applicants’ impressive qualifications, Vikash Vijay, divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri, said, “We found many achieved first-class in graduation and post-graduation. Around 30,000 applications were received till May 29 for vacancies of 150 posts.”
Echoing Akher, another applicant said the state has witnessed large-scale malpractices in recruitment in schools in which many ruling party heavyweights, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee, were arrested. “The Calcutta High Court recently terminated the jobs of 36,000 school teachers in connection with the scam. There are no job opportunities in the state and that is why I applied for the job of Bana Sahayak even though I have much higher and better qualifications,” said the postgraduate applicant.
KOLKATA: Mohammad Akher (name changed on request) dreamt of teaching students in a school after clearing the SSC examination five years ago. But fortune had something else in store for him. Now, instead of a chalk in hand, he is hoping to carry a pair of shears. Akher is one of more than 35,000 applicants who have queued up for a one-year contractual government job to cut grass and catch snakes.
Reflecting the sorry state of job opportunities in Bengal, the applicants, many with higher educational qualifications, have filled up the form for the temporary post of 445 Bana Sahayak in the forest department. Though the forest department mentioned Class VIII pass as the eligibility, thousands of graduate and postgraduate candidates applied for the job which offers Rs 10,000 per month. Many of the applicants passed the SSC examination but are yet to receive appointment letters as school teachers.
Youths for the temporary job will be recruited in Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, North and South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“Examinations for government jobs have come a halt. In many cases, getting a job without having political connections is not possible. Besides, even after clearing exams, receiving the appointment letter takes many years. I have no option left other than applying for this one-year contractual job with monthly remuneration of Rs 10,000,” said Akher, a postgraduate.
In the government notification, it has been clearly mentioned: “The post is purely temporary and contractual. The incumbent will not have any claim to any service benefits provided to permanent employees of the government of West Bengal. The engagement shall be for one year initially. The incumbent may continue to be engaged on an annual basis on the recommendation of the Head of the Office where engaged.”
Officials of the forest department were surprised while going through the applications. Admitting the applicants’ impressive qualifications, Vikash Vijay, divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri, said, “We found many achieved first-class in graduation and post-graduation. Around 30,000 applications were received till May 29 for vacancies of 150 posts.”
Echoing Akher, another applicant said the state has witnessed large-scale malpractices in recruitment in schools in which many ruling party heavyweights, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee, were arrested. “The Calcutta High Court recently terminated the jobs of 36,000 school teachers in connection with the scam. There are no job opportunities in the state and that is why I applied for the job of Bana Sahayak even though I have much higher and better qualifications,” said the postgraduate applicant.
