180 Assembly contract employees given marching orders
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 01 2012:
Altogether 180 staff of Manipur Legislative Assembly who were recruited on contract basis fraudulently have been released from their job.
It was earlier reported that Manipur Legislative Assembly has greater number of staff as compared to other State Assemblies even though Manipur has fewer Members.
The strength of Manipur Legislative staff made a quantum jump following recruitment of the 180 employees.
The 180 staff included five committee officers and two legal officers whose posts were non-existent.
According to a ruling of the Supreme Court, due advertisements should be published without fail under the Compulsory Notification Act if there should be recruitment on contract basis.
But no advertisements were published when these 180 staff were recruited on contract basis.
Official sources in the Manipur Legislative Assembly and Governor's Secretariat said that the 180 staff recruited on contract basis have been released.
Based on a news report published in The Sangai Express on July 1 about Manipur Legislative Assembly having the highest number of staff, the Governor's Secretariat sent a letter to the Assembly Secretariat a few days after the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly session came to an end on July 13 .
The letter sent by the Governor who is the constitutional head of the State asked whether any notifications were issued or approval of the Finance Department was sought when the 180 staff were recruited on contract basis.
It took more than two months for the Assembly Secretariat to give a satisfactory reply to the Governor's letter.
The fact that the Assembly Secretariat took more than two months to reply to the Governor's letter leaves some big questions.
A few days earlier, the Assembly Secretariat sent a written reply to the Governor's Secretariat informing that service of the 180 staff has been discontinued, the sources added.