Rising Kashmir: Srinagar:
Tuesday, April 23, 2013.
Dreams of
Shakeel Ahmad Shakeel, 42, from Chrare -Shareef Budgam, were shattered when he
did not see his name among the selected candidate list published by Service
Selection Recruitment Board (SSRB) in the year 1999.
“I could
smell something wrong in the selection list which never allowed me to live in
peace,” Shakeel said who had appeared in interview for teachers post in 1998
and the results of which were declared a year later in 1999.
After almost
13 years of the recruitment Shakeel filed RTI application where his belief was
resurrected.
In reply to
his RTI it was revealed that he was eligible for the teacher post in district
Budgam, as he had scored more points than the ones who were selected.
“The RTI
reply proved that I was deliberately dropped from the selection list by the
recruiting agency,” Shakeel said who after getting rejected opted for a
business career over his beloved teaching job.
Shakeel had
sought the information about the points scored by the candidates who had
applied for the teacher post in the year 1998.
Prior to RTI
act, Shakeel had approached authorities several times to seek the complete
result details. However, was denied of the same.
“I approached
the authorities several times urging them to show me the score of all the
candidates. But it was a futile exercise.”
Shakeel was
not the only candidate who faced the dejection, but his friend Muhammad Tariq
Sofi who had applied for the same post suffered the same fate.
Muhammad
Tariq Sofi, 40, had to compromise with his life and start a bakery shop to feed
his family.
“At present I
have two kids. I had no option than to compromise with my life and to start my
business,” Sofi said.
Despite
facing rejection from the recruiting agencies, the duo never distanced from
continuing their studies. Both of them completed their B.Ed courses in 2007.
The duo is
now holding the degrees of B.Sc and B.Ed.
Their dreams
of becoming teachers have shattered and they now think in a different way.
“We have made
our future in business now. But we can’t forget the what was done to us by SSRB
for no mistake of ours,” Shakeel said.
The and
sought the information about the points scored by the candidates who had
applied for the teacher post in the year 1998.
In official
reply to the RTI filed by duo in 2012 it was revealed that Shakeel and Tahir,
despite scoring high merit were dropped and candidates with low merit were
selected for the post.
Both the
candidates had scored 49.66 points in the selection, however, a candidate
namely; Muhammad Yousuf with only 49 points was selected for the same post.
“We don’t
expect any job now as we have already crossed the age bar. But our motive was
to expose the real face of the recruiting agency,” says Shakeel.
He is of the
view that they were not the only candidates who faced the discrimination by the
government.
“There can be
many such people who can become victim of prejudice. It is just a tip of ice
berg. More skeletons would be tumbled out if selection processes are scanned
properly,” Shakeel said.
The
recruitment in 1998 was done on 80:20 ratios, wherein 80 per cent were
considered aggregate of academic record and 20 per cent for viva.
However, the
documents reveal that candidates with low aggregate academic record have been
given 20 points in viva, while candidates with high academic aggregate have
been awarded only two points. “Full viva marks were given to blue eyed people
in order to make them eligible for the selection.”
“We have
achieved peace and satisfaction of mind by unveiling the truth after 13 years.
We want to make it public aware how recruiting agencies are playing with the
carriers of youth for pleasing their blue eyed people,” Shakeel said.
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