Several more SSC jobs disappear under Modi 2.0

There are fewer jobs in the market. Several people are crying hoarse about the reducing jobs in the government. But the government has been cutting it down even further.

National Herald had reported earlier that the government was under-reporting several vacancies. Now it has come to light that several more existing vacancies are being under-reported by the Staff Selection Commission.

In the latest RTI responses, it has come to light that the Central Excise department has under-reported more than 300 vacancies. On the website it was shown that, there were 54 vacancies in the Bhopal zone, but it has been revealed that there are more than 321 vacancies. In the Kolkata zone, SSC states that there have been no vacancies, however, the RTI response shows that there are 62 vacancies.

For the post of Preventive Officer and Examiner, again in the Central Excise department, SSC states that in the Chennai zone there are no vacancies, however it has been seen that there are 47 vacancies in the former and 46 vacancies for the latter post.

In another instance, the department itself has been indifferent in reporting the vacancies. There were 3,082 vacancies for auditors in the controller for defence accounts department for direct recruitment through SSC, but the departments have not forwarded the vacancies for both 2017 and 2018.

What is even more distressing for the students that the ministries are reducing the number of vacancies arbitrarily. There were 86 vacancies for the position of assistant in the Ministry of Mines on May 9, but currently there are only 84 vacancies.

In a strange twist, the RTI responses state that there are 398 vacancies for the post of JSO in the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, but the MoSPI website states that there are 560 vacancies as of May 2019. However, the SSC showcases only 50 vacancies. Of the 398 vacancies, 124 was for CGL 2017 and 274 for CGL 2018.

This has led several students to wonder whether these are indeed CGL vacancies.

In some cases, several vacancies which were for the 2017 examinees have now been transferred to the 2018 batch. “Several of us simply want a government job. It helps us and our families. But, our lives have been put on hold and we are still fighting to get placement even after clearing the exams. When they reduce our vacancies and transfer it to the 2018 batch, several of us who write the exam in 2017 get affected,” explained Vishal*, a student who hopes to get in the CAG.

The exams for Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (SSC-CGL) were last conducted in 2017. Last week, the government conducted the exams for 2018 batch. The exams for the 2019 batch hasn’t been notified yet. Due to the inordinate delay in conducting exams, of the 24 lakh students who had sent in their applications, however only 7.92 lakh appeared for the exam, making it 33% attendance.

Through the Staff Selection Commission, several Group B and Group C staff are recruited to posts in the various Ministries and Departments. These include junior engineers, auditors, inspectors, clerks, tax assistants, among other posts. The SSC Combined Graduate Level exam has a four-tier system, in which tier I and tier II are computer-based, while in tier III and IV, job applicants take up a descriptive paper and a computer proficiency test.

*name has been changed to protect the student’s identity.