Demand Appointing Vacation Officers, Strengthening Legal Team of the Board
Published in The Northlines:
http://thenorthlines.com/readMore.aspx?nid=69490
copy of petition submitted to JKSSB:
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Jammu, 30/Dec/2015: Today, a Civil Society delegation comprising RTI Activists Raman Sharma, Deepak Sharma, Social activists Ravi Razdan, Harasis Singh, Anil Sharma, Sarpanch Panchayat Halqa Jandrah and others called on Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board.
The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Secretary and raised their concern over the recent controversy erupted over the mass copying in several examination centers during the paper conducted by the board on 25/Dec/2015. The delegation expressed displeasure for conducting exam on holy Christmas, the sacred festival of Christian community and asked not to repeat any such blunder of conducting exam on such big festival of any community.
Among other demands in the memorandum, the JKSSB has been asked to appoint ‘Vacation Officers’ so that on Sundays and other holiday on exam days, the aggrieved candidates may meet the concerned officer and get redressal of their grievances even on holidays.
In the plea, the board has also been suggested to constitute a special examination conducting committee comprising experienced and retired educationists.
The board has also been asked to strengthen its legal team and appoint only competent legal professionals to represent the board before the Courts to avoid inordinate delay so that future of aspiring candidates do not suffer for years. They also urged the Secretary to fix time limit for finalising the entire recruitment process to avoid chaos and confrontations.
The Secretary was also requested to consider the plea of giving option to the candidates to choose their own examination Center/district so that their study or other job assignments are not hurt.
In other demands put forth by the delegation include allowing aspiring candidates to submit their forms through offline mode understanding the demography of the state as even there are many areas where candidates do not have internet facility.
They also demanded that admit card to the candidates should be made available on the website at least a week before the exam and the board should also own more websites to avoid website jamming due to congestion on last day.
The activists also submiited that at present the exam fees is accepted only through challan printout of JK Banks, the board been asked to consider other options and also to opt for post offices.
The Secretary gave a patient hearing to the delegation and assured to them to consider them accordingly. Demand of Installing CCTVs at all exam-centre was also made by the delegation.
http://thenorthlines.com/readMore.aspx?nid=69490
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| members of the visiting delegation left to right: Ravi Razdan, Harasis Singh, Deepak Sharma, Raman Sharma and Anil Sharma |
copy of petition submitted to JKSSB:
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To
The Honourable Chairperson,
Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board,
Jammu.
Subject:
Petition of Civil Society Members for smooth Conduct of Exams.
Respected Madam,
We the following members of
the Civil Society group through this petition wish to make following submissions/suggestions for further
improving the functioning of the Board more specifically for the smooth conduct
of Exams.
1.
We acknowledge the fact that JKSSB have very
responsible task of selection of candidates for all Non-Gazetted posts of the
government of Jammu and Kashmir and it is not easy task altogether and it requires lot
of expertise and proficiency, we
also understand that despite limited resources
and counted manpower the board finalises
several recruitments.
2.
As per the Mission/Vision Statement of the Board : the board selects the most
capable and deserving persons manning the civil services and posts, the
board exercise utmost impartiality,
objectivity and efficiency its task of recruitment in a time bound manner
and transparently and making use of
technological innovations.
3.
The Goal of the board as stated by the
board itself is Being fair and Being
seen as Such.
4.
But it is unfortunate that despite such
a righteous mission and goal statement
of the Board, many a times there are
allegations from different sections of the society against the board
therefore we are compelled to bring
certain shortcomings to your kind notice, it is not to blame anyone but we hope
you would appreciate it and take the corrective measure.
5.
You might be well aware of the often controversies
of written exam conducted by the board and latest on 25th of Dec/2015 and
the media reports in this regards thereafter, it would be futile to repeat them
again.
6.
The examination was conducted on 25th of
Dec , despite knowing the very fact that 25th
Dec is holy festival of Christian Community, the religious feelings of the
community were hurt, the people who fixed such a date for the exam should have
been careful, the board being a public authority cannot and should never
discriminate with any community.
7.
In future, utmost care may be taken so that
no such date is fixed on any day of festival.
8.
The board should fix time limit for completion of the recruitment process and submit
the list of successful candidate to the concerned department. The participating
candidates should be kept informed about the process, in case of any Court Case
also, the board should also at least inform the candidates.
9.
The board should also hire the services
of only senior and competent lawyers
so that he/she may present the case of the board before the honourable courts
and articulate the fact so that precious
time of the candidates is not wasted in long legal battles.
10. Though it is welcome step that the board has
switched to electronic and digital mode
but even today we have many areas of our state where there is no electricity forget the internet
connection, therefore we suggest that the candidates may also be given
option to submit ‘offline’ forms,
hard copy. It would be grave injustice to the candidates living in far off
places of the state if the option to submit and obtain form in the physical mode.
11. The candidates who can avail internet and can
manage internet facility may be provided additional
facilities , e.g there must be more option for submitting bank fees which
at present is only available as bank
challan from Jammu and Kashmir Bank, more banks may be included other than the
JK Bank. If possible the Board should strive to avail the facility of Post
Offices for selling of forms and fees submission. The online fees facilities may also be made available like credit card and debit card, online banking.
12. As per the available resources, the
board can also consider providing additional option to candidates to
appear in examination through online mode. It will save
valuable resources and time of the board
and consequently will be a step ahead in digital India mission of the
Government of India.
13. As
most of the time the board conducts exam on Sundays or holidays therefore it would be of great help to the
aspiring candidates the board nominates/designate some competent officers as “Vacation Officers” who may be assigned
the task to listen the grievances of the candidates. For example many a time
there are complaints from the candidates that they are unable to get their
admit card, website not working or any other complaint. These nodal
officers/vacation officers may be authorised to allow the candidates an ‘
Interim admit Card’ to allow the
candidate to sit in exam even if there is some error in website or a eligible
candidate is unable to download his/her admit card. Though the final decision
may be taken after verifying the facts of the case.
14. The
aspiring candidates may be allowed to choose their own centre/district, so that the candidates do not suffer and
need not to move from one district to another for exam, this causes lot of
hardship to the candidates who are pursuing their studies.
15. The download of the admit cards may be made
available on the website at least a week
before the exam. The board may also allow download of admit card and
submission of online form on different
websites because only one website caused congestion on the website and
candidates suffer due to last minute rush.
16. The examination may be conducted in such a way
that it is not only transparent but the candidates should also feel that the
board is transparent in its functioning.
17. The board may constitute a special examination committee to advise
the board to conduct exam, to hire the services
exam-paper setting members, hiring the services of invigilators, choosing exam centres, hiring
the services of other experts.
18. .
The exam scheduled to be held on 26th was postponed and it is not 1st
time that an exam is postponed, we understand that there may be circumstances
where there is no other option but to postpone the exam date but utmost care
may be taken because delayed actions do not restore confidence among stake
holders (candidates ,parents teachers & others), expeditious arrangements
and a mechanism may be adopted and the next date of exam must be announce
without further delay, the board meeting to finalise next date be held as soon
as possible, as Credibility of such an
esteemed organization depends on quick
action, prompt response and transparency .In this era of Tech. when social
media is so much active & everything true or false is in quick circulation,
JKSSB has to move with greater speed to
win hearts of all stake holders as expectations are very high.
19. The job of recruitment boards/organization in
other states may not be under so much public scrutiny as of ours in Jammu and
Kashmir because of higher rate of un-employbility, therefore keeping the
aspirations of the educated job-seekers into consideration, the board has to
make its outreach more interactive, pro-active, transparent and accountable. Though
we appreciate the board has displayed certain important information on its
website (as per the provisions of JK RTI Act 2009, section 4, pro active
disclosure), that may also be updated from time to time.
20. If
possible and the funds available with the board there may be CCTV-installed in every the examination
centre to monitor and record the entire examination process.
21. Basic facilities like clean drinking
water, toilet and temperature moderating equipments/ material may
be made available in all the examinations centres. (Coal/firewood/heaters in Kashmir and extreme cold regions of Jammu
in Winter and proper fans or ACs in summer in exam centers of Jammu region).
22. Invigilators
of high morality and integrity, with specific criteria may be appointed by
the board on exam duty.
23. Last
but not the least, the board may also make such a mechanism that the aspiring
candidates are given one time registration number so that
they need not to submit their details again and again for different posts,
however the board may charge the examination fees from them. One time
registration number will help the candidates and it would also save precious
time of the board.
We hope
that the board may subject to the availability of funds, shall consider the
above made submissions. Thanks in anticipation !
Date: 29/Dec/2015
Submitted by following members.
Deepak Sharma Raman Sharma Ravi Razdan
Harasis Singh, Anil Sharma
