Debabrata Saikia

Guwahati: The Assam Assembly’s employment review committee has asked Dispur to formulate a “clear-cut” policy to absorb local youths in public sector undertakings operating in the state.

The committee made eight recommendations in a report tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday, following a probe into alleged anomalies in the recruitment of persons with disabilities by ONGC Assam Asset, Nazira, in Sivasagar district in 2016.

The anomalies were raised in a letter to Speaker by leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia on February 24 last year. He said ONGC had allegedly violated guidelines regarding employment of local youths such as not informing the local employment exchange. He had raised the issue of recruitment against 22 vacant posts for persons with disabilities in 2016, where four persons from Assam and six from outside were recruited.

After several meetings and a field visit to Nazira, the employment committee in its recommendations has also asked the government to formulate a policy for cent per cent recruitment of local candidates in Grades III and IV posts in PSUs located in Assam such as the OIL, ONGC, Railways and Coal India, among others.

This recommendation was guided by Gujarat’s recruitment policy of providing 85 per cent employment to local people in PSUs such as OIL and ONGC.

The committee also asked ONGC to extend its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to all districts of Assam, to mention in its advertisement that all Grades III & IV posts are reserved for candidates of Assam and creation of 30 new Grade III and IV posts for persons with disabilities for youths of Assam.

A senior ONGC official told The Telegraph that they would respond after going through the committee’s report.

However, ONGC representatives had told the committee that they had advertised the posts in local newspapers and had even intimated the local employment exchange.

Sources said Dispur was yet to take a decision but has started discussions, including seeking legal opinions, on reserving cent per cent jobs for locals.

News Source Telegraph India