Pankaj Kumar Mahto sitting in front of his house at Lakhnipur, Samastipur
At a time when former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family are facing trial for the Land for Job scam (2004-2009), Organiser brings an exclusive story of a Dalit man who is a victim of a brewing ‘Money for Job’ scam in Bihar.
As per an advertisement (number–04/2018), the Secretariat of Bihar Vidhan Sabha called for applications for as many as eight posts. These posts were of office attendant, librarian, letter distributor, guard, driver, cleaner, office attendant (farash) and gardner.
As per the notification, 166 employees were to be appointed for the eight posts. However, 175 candidates were appointed without any prior notification.
It is noteworthy that the advertisement itself mentions that no changes will be permitted in the notification especially under the reserved category once it is published for appointments.
This Dalit man from Samastipur district interviewed by Organiser, claimed that students have been appointed against a bribe of Rs 10- 15 lakhs for each of the posts.
What does the advertisement say?
The advertisement (number–4/2018) called for applications for different posts as follows: Fourteen (14) posts of driver (9 Unreserved(UR), 3 Scheduled Castes (SC), 1 Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer), 1 OBC woman and 4 women (Army Personnel).
Seven (07) posts of Library attendants (3 UR, 1 SC, 1 OBC (non-creamy), 1 OBC, 1 OBC (woman) and 1 woman (Army Personnel).
Ten (10) posts for Letter distributors (5 UR, 1 SC, 2, OBC (non-creamy), 1 OBC, 1 OBC (woman) and 2 women
(Army Personnel).
Ninety (90) posts for Office attendants (52 UR, 19 SC, 2 ST, 13 OBC (non-creamy), 4 OBC (women), 2 freedom fighters, 4 physically handicapped and 31 women (Army Personnel).
Nine (09) posts for Guards (5 UR, 2 SC, 2 OBC (non-creamy), 4 women (Army Personnel).
Ten (10) posts for cleaner (1 UR, 4 OBC (non-creamy), 4 OBC, 1 OBC (women) and 1 woman (Army Personnel).
Twenty (20) posts for the Gardner (10 UR, 3 SC, 4 OBC (non-creamy), 2 OBC, 1 OBC (women) and 5 women
(Army Personnel).
Six (06) posts for office attendants (farash) (2 UR, 2 SC, 2 OBC (non-creamy), 1 woman (Army Personnel).
The selection process for the above-mentioned posts included driving tests for the driver and interviews for the rest of the posts. The candidates were to be shortlisted based on their marks and other educational qualifications. The base qualification required was class 10.
Notably, only the permanent residents of Bihar, having a domicile certificate, could claim the reserved seats.
As per the Bihar Working advertisement (number–16144) after the circular was published, that is on November 28, 2012, no changes can be made in the notification during the process of appointment.
The minimum age required for application was 18 years and the maximum was 37 years for the unreserved category with dedicated relaxation for the candidates from the reserved categories.
The candidates in the interview were analysed by the panel which was supposed to give them marks out of 100. After the interview, a merit list was declared displaying the roll numbers of the selected candidates. The applications were invited from October 23, 2018, to November 22, 2018. The applications were accepted in both online and offline modes.
The application fee was Rs 100 for the unreserved candidates and Rs 25 for the reserved and female candidates.
Victim Recounts his ordeal
Pankaj Kumar Mahto (application number–BVS4015795) applied for the post of office attendant. He comes from the Lakhnipur area which falls under the Police Station of the Samastipur district. He comes from the Pasi Jati, which falls under the Scheduled Caste category.
The post he applied for had 19 posts allotted for the Scheduled Caste.
After applying for the post, he was called for an interview on September 24, 2019, and was allotted (roll number–2122017971). After the interview, he was happy as the panel interviewing him appreciated him multiple times before he walked out of the chamber. He gave all the correct answers to the questions, he said.
The results of the interview were declared on August 8, 2020 (during Covid-19). However, Pankaj did not find his name on the appointed list.
With Right to Information (RTI number–39/2020), Pankaj asked the exam authorities to share his mark sheet with him. An application for the same was presented on August 18, 2020.
Pankaj received the response on October 6, 2020, stating the results will be made available on the official website of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha (www.vidhansabha.bih.nic.in) from September 9 to September 29, 2020. He checked the website and found that the respective cut-offs for the candidates were listed below in the picture. However, for Pankaj’s category, it was 70 marks out of 100.
Pankaj obtained 60 marks out of 100. As per another checked copy, Pankaj obtained 62 out of 100.
The problem here is that the result which should include 166 roll numbers had 175 roll numbers. The category Pankaj applied for had extra appointments. The overall increase in the number of posts is as follows:
For librarian attendants, 4 Unreserved candidates were appointed in place of 3.
For the letter distributor, 1 OBC candidate was appointed but the notification never had any vacancy for an OBC candidate.
For the office attendant, 55 Unreserved candidates were appointed against 52 vacancies as listed in the notification.
For the reserved category 20 scheduled caste candidates were appointed but the notification mentioned only 19 vacancies. The other backward class (non-creamy layer) had 13 posts but 14 appointments were made.
Similarly, in place of 4 women (OBC) candidates, 5 were appointed. And in place of 7 women (OBC non-creamy) candidates, 9 were appointed.
In all 9 extra candidates were appointed without any prior information to the students applying for the posts.
The appointment list breaches the code set by the circular and the recruitment board itself. The circular says at any stage, after the notification gets published in the public domain, no changes can be made to the number of posts. Especially, for the reserved category.
If the posts were to get increased, the Commission should have informed the students by means of a new notification in place. Regarding the irregularity, in the appointment procedure, Pankaj has written multiple letters to different authorities including the Chief Minister and the Governor of the State.
On August 1, 2022, Pankaj wrote a letter (number–483/2022) to the Chief Minister’s office in Patna. On August 25, 2022, he wrote to the Principal Secretary of the Parliamentary Affairs Department letter (number–D2022086028) to which he received a response stating dedicated actions will be taken. He again wrote to the department on October 12, 2022, to which he get the same response.
He wrote to the Department for the third time on November 8, 2022, to which he received no response to date.
For his first RTI (number–01/09–01/2022–919) he got the response that further details regarding his application will be made available during the next Vidhan Sabha session.
However, when he applied, this time through RTI (number—1/2021–260), he was informed that all the related information regarding his application was made available on the website only.
Pankaj claims that people, who are less qualified than him and can barely manage to sign documents, have been appointed by the authorities, He says some of the appointees told him that without money no appointments can be made in the Government Departments of Bihar.
Some said, the extra appointments were made against Rs 10- 15 lakh each for a post, told Pankaj.
‘Whole process needs investigation’
Pankaj lives in Lakhnipur Mahespatti, Ujiarpur of Samastipur district. When he applied for the post, he was 32 years old, and now he is 35.
Pankaj comes from a poor family. His father runs an electric repair shop. His mother mostly remained ill and it was he and his father who looked after the household chores. He would do his studies and the household work and would even support his father at the shop.
Pankaj has done his MA in Political Science. He tried for multiple government jobs but did not make it to the final rounds except for the one for the office attendant in 2018.
He said, “There is some issue with the marks as when marks were displayed on the website it only showed my marks. Marks of other students were not displayed in the pdf document”.
He said the appointees themselves claimed that they had to pay money for the appointment. He says, “If the government increased the number of posts for the appointment, they should have informed the students beforehand”. This is nothing but a way of extorting money from students who dream of getting a government job.
He added, “I waited for the appointment, they released during covid-19, I still asked for the marksheets, all of this during covid-19. If they have appointed extra candidates, without interviewing them this is a blunder and needs investigation”.
‘They cannot just run away by saying I did not qualify’, said Pankaj.
I accept I did not qualify but how can the government increase the number of posts in the middle of appointment procedures? This is illegal and I will fight for it, either they appoint me or reject the appointments for those 9 candidates who have been added later to the list.
“How can they appoint a candidate from the OBC category if they have not even called for the application in that section? This is the ‘Jungle Raj’ people often claim Bihar has”, he said.
Pankaj is currently working in the electricity department of the district. He is a lineman who takes reading from the meters by going door to door. He gets 100 rupees per metre or per reading. Pankaj says he had to give brokerage to his superiors, almost Rs 20 per metre.
He is married and a father of two daughters. His youngest daughter is a year old. Sometimes it gets difficult for him to sustain his family with the limited money he earns.
He says, for their recruitment and the whole RTI and other stuff he spent more than Rs 40,000. He believes, only National Commission for the Scheduled Caste can help him.
The politicians never dare to take this matter in the Parliament, the court takes years and years and the students are always at the loss.
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