The recruitment tale

The process of recruitment had come under severe criticism as this was apparently motivated by partisan considerations. Such was the lack of transparency and widespread allegations of nepotism, corruption and political interference, that the government was constrained to revoke several thousand appointments on 20 Nov only to rescind that order, however, under pressure from rank and file of the BNP, a week later.

The see-saw game gives rise to several questions in the public mind. In the first place, people felt that by annulling the appointments clouded by controversy, the government had done the right thing. If the PMO had felt constrained to revoke the appointment orders of so many applicants, there must have been compelling reasons to do so. That being the case, the revocation of the cancellation order itself is bound to create misgivings in the public mind.

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Recruitment to government posts in whatever level, as must all recruitment everywhere be, transparent and open. The whole affair, in this case, of appointing-rescinding-revoking of the rescinding order has deepened doubts in the public mind about the credibility of government appointments, especially where huge number of vacancies are involved.

But the government didn't feel obliged, at any stage, to share information with the public about the extra-ordinary steps it took to cancel the original series of appointments (inexplicably, without having put a brake on it in good time!), and withdraw the revocation order subsequently that validated the earlier recruitment.

We would also like to share the general misgivings regarding the recruitment and suggest that the government not only come out with a clear-cut statement on the issue but also institute an inquiry into the entire episode.