Manipur govt halts hiring on grade III, IV posts; sets up

The new BJP-led government in Manipur today decided to discontinue recruitment process for junior- level posts in all state departments initiated during the previous Congress regime.
At a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, the state Cabinet also made it mandatory for the departments to take its approval for other hirings which were initiated by the previous government but were not completed.
The Cabinet also approved setting up of a special anti-corruption cell at the Chief Minister's Secretariat.
"The Cabinet discussed discontinuation of the stage of interview in direct recruitment for junior level posts (Grade-III & IV) in all departments under the government of Manipur in line with the policy adopted by the central government," an official statement said.

It further said the Cabinet has decided to amend the existing recruitment rules for Grade-III & IV posts accordingly.
"In case of any recruitment that was not completed, the concerned department should place the matter before the Cabinet for taking an appropriate decision," it added.

Explaining reasons behind the step, the statement said: "It will help in curbing corruption, more objective selection in transparent manner and substantially easing the problems of poor people."
The setting up of anti-corruption cell has been done "to receive information on corrupt elements in public service, for ensuring transparency and accountability in governance", it said.

The state government also asked general public to capture the video or audio of "any incident of corruption in public service and send the same through WhatsApp" to a specified mobile number (9402150000) of the anti-corruption cell.
In other decisions taken during the meeting, the Cabinet also decided that all state projects and schemes would be brought under the ambit of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) with the use of Public Fund Management System (PFMS) within three months.
It also approved promulgation of an ordinance for exemption of fee in the transfer of documents of land to women while assigning its implementation in Greater Imphal area to the Department of Municipal Administration, Housing & Urban Development (MAHUD).