Local government: Secretary candidates urge govt to hire those who cleared NTS

Take to the streets in protest in Shangla

SHANGLA: Candidates for the post of secretaries for village council in Alpuri, Shangla protested on Saturday. They demanded the government retract its decision of cancelling tests and interviews conducted for their posts. Earlier in October, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak cancelled the recruitment process after accusations of nepotism and favouritism emerged.

Dozens of protesters from various parts of Shangla gathered in Alpuri for a demonstration. They walked from the district secretariat to Alpuri Chowk, shouting slogans against what they called were “unfair” government policies.  Speakers at the protest urged the government to immediately appoint candidates who were selected fair and square.

Round two

While addressing the protesters at Alpuri Chowk, one of the speakers said they applied to the National Testing Service test for the secretary jobs at the village and neighbourhood council after they were advertised by the government. “The test was conducted in the month of Ramazan, and results were announced on the NTS website,” he said. “Things changed at the time of the interviews.”

The K-P government cancelled the entire recruitment process because irregularities were witnessed in six districts of the province during the interviews, said candidates. “But that is not fair to candidates in other districts,” another speaker added.

“Though we appreciate the government cancelling interviews due to irregularities, we see it as injustice to applicants from the rest of the province,” he added, saying the process should only be redone where the irregularities were proven.

“We went through several months-long process of hiring. We do not want to go through it again,” a protester complained. “Next time we will protest outside of CM House if we are not issued our letters of appointment within a week’s time,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2015.