Saturday, 12 September 2015

Appointments at High Places in the Government

Among the many important factors  ,which are responsible for the poor governance in our  country,in our  state of Uttar Pradesh , and in many other states , is the  appointment of people  to very high posts  on grounds other than merit.  The  judgement of  a division  bench of  the high court  Allahabad  on September 7,2015 (Monday) quashing the appointment of three members  of the UP Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC) ,has  put this  unfortunate reality in  sharp focus. The court  has also directed the state government  to make fresh appointments to the three posts by  adopting a TRANSPARENT PROCEDURE.
                    The  division bench comprising of  chief justice DY Chandrachud  and Justice Yashwant Varma  passed the above order on the  writ petition filed by  Gorakhpur University  Affiliated Colleges Teachers' Association .The court quashed the appointment of three members  Ram Veer Singh Yadav,Dr. Rudal Yadav and Anil Kumar Singh.The court was categorical that the state  government had made these appointments  ,without following the twin norms of transparency and objectivity.The state government had not issued any notification  to public at large  about the vacancies in the Commission .As a result , eligible candidates could not apply.The government made selections out of  whoever sent his bio-data, without following any transparencyThe court said:"Appointment to high government post cannot be allowed to be  a means to breed  nepotism and political patronage in a society which is built on  the principle of Rule of Law  and any such appointment attracts  provisions of Article 14 of  Indian Constitution".The three persons were neither eminent  nor had made any valuable contribution in the field of education .The government claimed about one member   that he was eminent because he had received an award from the  Akhil bhart Varshiya Yadav Mahasabha.
            This is  just one instance of  the non-transparent  manner in which ineligible persons   were appointed to  the posts at high places in the public domain .There are  other important posts at high places , like the chairman and members of  state public service commission, state information commissioners , members of  state  electricity regulatory authority , chairman and members of state pollution control board  and so on .In Uttar Pradesh,  differences  over the appointment of Lokayukta  has led the state  government  to  get the  amendment bill   related to the appointment of Lokayukta  passed by the legislature.The bill is now under the consideration of the Governor of U.P. The list is long .The incumbents of these posts have an extremely important role on the quality of governance.But alas!  very often , the appointment to such important posts  have been  made on the  basis of political patronage  and personal loyalty to the influential political personalities.In turn , such appointees  became   tools  for nepotism , and indulged in corrupt practices.The governance is the  obvious casualty.Such blatant disregard by the  state government to governance ,probity ,integrity and transparency in appointments , raises many doubts about the future of democracy in our country.
                        Let us hope that  there will be more awakening among our citizens so that each such wrong appointment at high places is challenged before the judiciary till  the state  government starts  making  appointments   at high places transparently ,objectively and true to the letter and spirit  of our constitution , without indulging  in  political patronage  and nepotism.

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