Peasant Leader Akhil Gogoi Accuses Assam CM of Corruption in Panchayat Dept Recruitment, Seeks CBI Probe

Guwahati: RTI activist and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samittee (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi strongly criticised the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government for running one of the “biggest scams” in the history of Assam - the irregularities in the recruitment process of the Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) Department.

“This is the biggest scam of Assam and we demand a CBI enquiry on it", Gogoi said on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, Gogoi had accused the Sonowal government as the “flag bearer of corruption” and that the CID report on P&RD recruitment has proven it.

“According to the CID report, a number of irregularities were detected in the recruitment process. Without the verification of documents, practical marks were provided and overnight, the names of the selected candidates were published on the P&RD website,” Gogoi alleged.

The KMSS leader claimed that no police verification was conducted for the selected 945 candidates who were asked to join the department immediately. More than one person was selected from a single family. "The same cash-for-job of Assam Public Service Commission process was used in P&RD department", Gogoi added.

Meanwhile, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Naba Kumar Doley has denied the reports of irregularities involving appointment in permanent posts in panchayat and rural development (P&RD) department.

“There were no such irregularities as alleged in the appointments. The recruitment was done on the basis of merit. The department has not yet declared the results of 18 examination centres where anomalies were detected,” Doley told News18.

The CID had submitted the investigation report on the anomalies in the recruitment examination held in May 2018 for vacant positions in the P&RD Department. The CID stated numerous irregularities in eighteen examination centres across nine districts.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday ordered a one-man inquiry by Additional Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah to inquire into the whole episode and submit a report to the government.

The decision to launch an inquiry comes after the Congress and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) demanded high-level judicial investigation into the matter.

Opposition Congress alleges that the list has names of relatives, near and dear ones of BJP leaders and a number of them from Assam P&RD minister Naba Kumar Doley’s constituency.