CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is yet to announce results for 176 posts after conducting written exams for the post of assistant planner and planning assistant four years ago.
It is learnt that candidates who had written the exams have now approached the Chief Secretary to intervene in the issue and ensure
the vacancies are filled up.
K Manikandan, a Dalit candidate who had applied for the post of the Assistant Planner in 2015, said that he had written exams after government advertised to fill the posts of Assistant Planner and Planning Assistant Grade I.
"The results are still unannounced. Whereas, part of the posts and the same vacancies are announced in Tamil Nadu Assembly 2019-20 and advertised again on February 8, 2020," said Manikandan.
"Nearly 200 differently qualified persons are being regularly employed on temporary basis in CMDA, supplied by ELCOT, denying my employment rights in time, even though I hold four relevant master degrees and hail from a Scheduled Caste – Arunthathiar community (SC-A) and a first-generation graduate in my family," he says.
This comes at a time when nearly 50 per cent of posts are vacant in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority as the organization has been struggling to fill the posts since 2006.
According to information available with The New Indian Express, CMDA currently has 328 officials working against the sanctioned strength of 819 as the recruitment process has not been carried out since the last eight to 10 years despite several announcements made in the Assembly.
According to sources, recruitment of assistant planner, planning assistant Grades I & II are delayed during 2000-06 because of a recruitment ban initiated by the government. Thereafter, direct recruitment processes made by the CMDA through Employment exchange four times during 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 & 2009-2010 are either nullified due to several lapses, non-compliances and discrepancies or only few vacancies are filled-up.
As per information available, only six qualified Town Planners have been recruited under direct recruitment as Assistant Planners in CMDA since 2000 in the last 20 years.
Association of Professional Town Planners (APTP) president K M Sadanandh, who has been legally raising the issue over anomalies in CMDA recruitment process told The New Indian Express that contrary to the recruitment processes and direction of the High Court on several occasions, over 250 posts in various categories have been filled by temporary manpower supplied by ELCOT over the last six years.
A former planner alleged that the recruitment through Elcot without the sanction from the state government is costing the exchequer Rs 3 crore annually.
When Express tried to contact officials in the Housing department and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, they refused to comment.