MPSC aspirants' demands accepted: secretary transferred, judicial inquiry within three months

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held detailed talks with a delegation of students on their various demands concerning the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) at a high-level meeting. The Chief Minister took a highly positive stance on all the demands and announced several important decisions.

Welcoming the decisions, the students have announced that they are postponing for now their statewide agitation planned for October 2.

The first decision concerns a judicial inquiry. Under Article 317 of the Constitution, the chairman and members of the MPSC can be removed only by the President, on the advice of the Supreme Court. As the students demanded, a proper judicial inquiry will be held within three months against the former and current chairmen and members. Strict action will follow on the basis of its findings.

The second decision concerns the MPSC secretary. On the students' strong insistence, it has been decided to transfer the secretary immediately.

The third decision concerns the examination format. In future, all MPSC examinations will be held offline only. No change will be made to the examination pattern without detailed discussion with all student organisations and stakeholders.

The fourth decision concerns recruitment to vacant posts. There had been no major amendment to recruitment rules in the state government since 1960, because of which recruitment was permitted to only 30 to 40 per cent of posts. New rules have now been framed for more than 60 per cent of departments, and work on the rest is moving fast. Vacant posts will be filled in record numbers in the Group-C examination to be held on January 3.

The fifth decision concerns a "single card". To spare students the trouble of repeatedly applying for different examinations and submitting documents, a "single card" system will be introduced. The card will be available for a very nominal fee.

The government will also now announce vacancies for the next three years together. Recruitment to replace retiring employees will begin a year in advance. A time-bound schedule for the entire recruitment will be announced within a month.