Former MPSC chairman alleges regional bias in selection of

Former MPSC Chairman Sudhir Thakre in a letter to erstwhile Maharashtra Governor has alleged discrimination against eligible youths from Vidarbha region in the recruitment process for vacancies in officers' cadre.
In a letter dated February 4, Thakre had pointed out to then Maharashtra Governor Sankaranarayanan the "injustice" meted out to Vidarbha youths by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission.
He noted that this discrimination was on for long and needed to be corrected by the Governor through special powers bestowed on him by Article 371 (2) so as to restore regional balance in employment opportunities.
Thakre demitted office in March after his two-year stint as the MPSC Chairman.

Thakre gave year-wise statistics of Grade 'A' officers selected by the MPSC since 2010, showing that candidates from five districts of Pune revenue division accounted for over 50 per cent of the selections, according to Madhukar Kimmatkar, former Minister of State for Finance, Law and Judiciary.
Aspirants from six districts of Nagpur division got a poor share of only 2-6.6 per cent and that of Amravati slightly more with 7.2 percent. Aurangabad fared relatively better with 23.2 per cent while Nashik was at 10.04 per cent.

Konkan region had a low share of 6.4 per cent. This would mean that when it comes to merit, no one comes close to Pune, Thakre said in the letter.

The MPSC conducts competitive exams for 108 cadres. Most of the selections are confined to Grade 'A' officer posts like Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Assistant Sales Tax Commissioner, Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies and others.
Grade 'B' posts include block development officers, chief officers of municipal corporation/councils etc while Grade 'C' has police inspectors.
Annually, an average of 5,000 officers are recommended by MPSC through the selection process in these grades.
Thakre, in his letter, stressed that the mismatch in selection for public services between Pune vis-a-vis other areas like Nagpur, Amravati and Konkan portends social, administrative and to an extent political consequences in the total developmental and welfare fabric of the state.