Kolkata: West Bengal assembly today passed
the The West Bengal Staff Selection Bill, 2011, aimed at
direct recruiting of state government employees through
advertisements in newspapers.
State minister for Public Health Engineering (PHE) who
introduced the Bill in the assembly, said that the new
legislation was an amendment to the West Bengal and
Establishments of Public Undertaking, Statutory Bodies,
Government Companies and Local Authorities Act which was
passed by the Left Front government in 1999.
Mukherjee said that certain aspects of the 1999
legislation had been declared ultra vires to the provisions of
Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
He said that under the new legislation, a new body, West
Bengal Staff Selection Commission, would be set up which would
be headed by a chairman and two members.
Mukherjee said that the proposed commission would fill
up posts which were not within the ambit of the Public Service
Commission (PSC) through advertisements in newspapers. The
purpose was to make the selection process more transparent, he
added.
Leader of the Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra said the new
legislation would undermine the role of employment exchanges
and create a conflict with the functions of the PSC.
Later when asked at his assembly chamber, Mukherjee said
that the role of employment exchanges would not be reduced and
candidates would be able to get jobs through this route.
In addition, they would also be able to respond to the
advertisements along with those not registered with the
employment exchanges.
PTI
