MYSURU: Dalit candidates scoring as high as 90 per cent in their PU exams are still not able to bag village accountant posts.
When Antosh applied for the government post in December, he thought he was just a step away from receiving the offer letter. He had scored 90.16 per cent in his pre-university course — the eligibility exam — and also enjoyed the advantage of being a scheduled caste candidate and a Kannada medium student. But he was shocked when he did not find his name on the verification list. When he filed an objection, he was told the cut-off was 90.50 per cent.
The ongoing village account recruitment process in Mysuru district has disappointed hundreds of such bright candidates, especially those belonging to SC/ST categories.
However, SC candidates who happen to be children of ex-servicemen are doing better: they have made it to the verification list with as little as 54.66 per cent.
The reason for the high cut-off is that hundreds of SC candidates with top scores have applied for the posts. The cut-off for the general category is 91.16 per cent.
Periyapatna tahsildar B F Talwar attributed the stiff competition in lower rung jobs to the transparent recruitment process. “It is also because a post dealing with revenue is considered powerful,” he said.
Academics say that though government jobs always attract huge numbers, the high cut-off brings new challenges.
Prof Muzaffar Assadi, a political science professor at the University of Mysore, sees the development as both positive and negative.
“Unlike in the 1960s and 1970s, today’s Dalits are free from baggage. Affirmative action in the form of reservation, scholarships, education loans and book banks have helped them score high marks. But then, they seek only government jobs as the private sector is not obliged to reserve jobs for them,” he observed.
Why So Tough?
Deputy Commissioner C Shikha said the government had received 69,000 applications from across the state for 130 posts.
Even engineering, MBA and science graduates are vying for village accountant posts. If selected, they get a monthly salary of about Rs 16,000.