‘GOT SECURITY GUARD JOB WITHOUT VERIFICATION, ON PAYMENT OF ₹25K’

DEHRADUN: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Col Ajay Kothiyal (retd) on Tuesday alleged irregularities in recruitment process by a manpower-providing company hired by the state women empowerment and child development department.

Kothiyal said he was given an appointment letter for a security guard job in the department in Champawat district without physical verification of his fitness or interview but only with payment of ₹25,000.

The company asked for depositing the amount in the society, called Late Smt Nirmala Singh Seva Samiti, he said.

“Both the company, ASquare, and the society are headed by the same man, AP Singh. Why should any job aspirant deposit money in a society when the company is dealing with the recruitment process?” asked Kothiyal.

He reached the state secretariat with his appointment letter and showed it to senior officers of the state women empowerment and child development department, who told him that he should give the complaint in writing and they will look into it.

Kothiyal also alleged that some people hired by the department through this company have been removed. He alleged that these employees were being asked to provide three months’ salary as security money. “Unemployed youth in the state come from economically weaker sections. How can they afford such money? Imagine, just for the job of a security guard, why they should be given ₹ 25,000 like this, that too in the name of a Samiti. We have demanded that the government investigate this matter and take action. If the government doesn’t take action, we will start an agitation,” he said.

Kothiyal also took out his licensed semi-automatic rifle outside the secretariat. “I brought this weapon in my vehicle so that I can request the government to at least increase my salary as a security guard from around ₹8000 to at least ₹14,000,” he said.

When contacted, AP Singh, owner of Asquare Resources Private Limited and president of Smt Nirmala Singh Seva Samiti, said ₹ 25,000 being taken from the candidates selected for security guard job is actually the security deposit, which will be returned once the person leaves the job. “This security money is being asked so that if any security guard takes away any valuable item like computers or laptops, the company can use this money for bearing the losses,” he said. On removing some people from the job, Singh said three people were removed as they were trying to browbeat him with political influence and not working as per the required discipline.

On why the security money was being taken by the Samiti and not the company, Singh said they have started their work with the Uttarakhand government in last December and paid the state government a security of around ₹40 lakh.