BENGALURU: It has been nearly seven years that Shashank Suresh Bulbule has been running pillar to post for a government job. His father, Suresh Bulbule, was a head constable attached to APMC Police Station in Belagavi. He died in 2012 at the age of 51 while in service.
According to government norms, Shashank should have been given a government job within three months of his father’s demise, on compassionate grounds. However, Shashank alleges that though the Belagavi Regional Commissioner on July 29, 2016, instructed the DPAR to give him a Group ‘C’ job in the Tourism Department, the officials did not do so.
The reason being since he studied Marathi as his first language in SSLC, the Tourism Department required him to clear Kannada language test conducted by it. However, no test was conducted. This is when Shashank approached the Lokayukta.
It was after this that Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty directed the Tourism Department to conduct the Kannada language test. The Belagavi Deputy Commissioner, who is the chairman of the District Tourism Development Committee, then conducted the Kannada test through the Deputy Director of Public Instructions on February 23, 2019. Shashank scored 45.8 out of 100 and cleared the test.
Shashank was finally given a job as a Second Division Assistant (SDA) in the Tourism Department. The state government has been requested for orders in view of the Model Code of Conduct due to the ongoing Parliamentary elections. Shashank will be appointed after the government orders are received, the Director stated in a communication to the Lokayukta office.
Taking note of the statement, the Lokayukta stated: “I am of the view that this complaint is required to be closed on the ground that the grievance of the complainant is redressed, however, with a further direction to the officials to submit the compliance report on or before May 31, 2019.”