Aug. 10: The Bengal government has started a process to appoint about 5,000 Group D employees on a contractual basis ahead of the panchayat polls next year.

The contractual jobs, the application for which was issued in a little-known Bengali daily, have given rise to speculation that recruitment norms are being bypassed in a hurry to complete the process ahead of the elections.

Sources in Nabanna said education and parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee had started sending lists of applicants to various departments along with a letter urging them to offer contractual employment to those mentioned.

Metro has learnt that at least two departments - PWD and irrigation - have received the letter and lists from Chatterjee so far. Sources said more departments would be sent such lists soon.

While the PWD has reportedly received a list of 1,200 candidates, the irrigation department has been sent names of about 400 youths.

"The government has a plan to appoint 5,000 youths in various departments over the next few months.... The finance department has already approved the appointments on a contract basis," said a senior official.

The contractual employees will get a salary of Rs 7,500 a month, along with several other benefits like pay revision and post-retirement sops.

Giving jobs in the Group D category - which covers mainly peon and sweeper positions in the government - and creating beneficiaries have been used as a political tool by successive governments in Bengal.

The Left Front had on a regular basis appointed youths allegedly loyal to aligned parties on a regular basis. But the practice had come to a halt in the later part of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government.

Officials pointed out that Trinamul had reintroduced the practice after coming to power in 2011 when about 3,000 people were given contractual employment in Group D posts.

But the decision this time, with an aim to complete the process before the polls next year, has led to discussions in administrative circles on whether the government was bypassing norms.

Senior officials pointed out that the advertisement seeking application for the Group D posts was published in a little-known Bengali daily on April 15. According to recruitment norms, job advertisements should be given in at least two "widely" circulated dailies, one Bengali and one English.

"The norm framed by the finance department during the Left Front tenure covers both permanent and contractual engagements. The norm was set to give opportunity to all the unemployed to apply for the posts. In this case, it was bypassed," said an official.

Sources said that when the government keeps the larger section of the unemployed unaware of vacant posts, questions are raised over transparency in the recruitment process.

The fact that employment is a problem in Bengal became clear when around 25 lakh applicants applied for 6,000 Group D posts after the newly formed Group D Recruitment Board gave advertisements.

The board had held a written exam of all the eligible candidates, the number of which comes to about 24.4 lakh, in May this year. The board has now decided to call about 12,000 successful candidates for the interview before publishing a final list of successful candidates.

Told about the speculation, minister Chatterjee said: "There is no question of any irregularities on in them. It has been done through proper advertisement and other formalities."