KOLKATA: Highlighting the poor job scenario in West Bengal, many candidates with engineering background were found applying for the post of facility manager at the state-run hospitals.
B. Tech and M. Tech degree holders, as well as mechanical and civil engineers with 80% to 90% marks in degree courses, were among the over 3.5 lakh applicants, who responded to a government notification for filling up 819 vacancies in various hospitals.
This, old-timers say, is not the first such instance in the eastern state. In 2017, over 25 lakh people applied for 6,000 Group D posts in the West Bengal government secretariat. A large number of applicants were graduates, postgraduates and PhD holders even as the minimum qualification required was an elementary school certificate.
The same year, a young job-seeker with post-graduation in English and BEd degree had committed suicide after he was offered the job of a floor cleaner in a shopping mall in 2017.
His family members had alleged that the young man had been asked to pay a bribe to land a job as a primary school teacher.
More than 42,000 primary teachers were recruited but several candidates had alleged “gross violation’’ of recruitment norms.
Among the 3.5 lakh candidates who applied for the post of facility manager, over 9,000 of them are from an engineering background.
“Other than candidates having engineering degrees, most of the applicants are graduates and postgraduates in science. We did not expect such a volume of qualified applicants. Many of them scored more than 95% in the higher secondary examination,’’ said Tapas Mondal, chairman of West Bengal Health Recruitment Board.
The Board has asked 6,000 of the applicants to come at its office for verification of their certificates.
“After examining their documents, we will shortlist 5,000 applicants who will be asked to appear for a written test. The candidates eligible for the written test will be decided on the basis of their performance in the exams,’’ said an official of the recruitment board.