Ajit Pawar defends contract recruitments, blames opposition for derailing it

Mumbai: A day after Devendra Fadnavis announced the decision to scrap government order regarding recruitment of staff on contract basis, Ajit Pawar also accused the opposition of running a mischievous propaganda. Mr. Pawar said the decision was correct, but the opposition misguided youth over it.

The opposition parties had alleged that the Eknath Shinde government had decided to recruit employees on contract basis through empanelled agencies. However, Mr. Fadnavis said the decision was taken by the previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Subsequently, he also announced that the order signed by Uddhav Thackeray has been scrapped.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Pawar said, “The GR was right, but the opposition deliberately spread false propaganda over it. Misunderstanding was created among the youth about this (recruitment) process. Many things were spoken about this GR like people will not get jobs and some will lose their jobs, which was incorrect.”

Blaming the Opposition for the Shinde government’s decision to scrap the GR, Mr. Pawar added, “One-and-a-half lakh youth were set to get the opportunity. I have worked with several ministries. But then, recruitment on such a large scale was not carried out. Since misunderstandings are being spread among the youth, we decided at the cabinet meeting that we will cancel the contractual recruitments.”

Accusing the Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP and the Congress for attempts to create unrest amongst the youth and cause anarchy in the state, Mr. Fadnavis had said the entire process of appointment on contract basis was completed during the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

According to Mr. Fadnavis, the first decision to carry out contract recruitment was taken by the Congress-NCP government in 2003 when Sushil Kumar Shinde was the chief minister and the subsequent governments headed by Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan also carried out contract recruitments. He also pointed out that the current GR, against which the Opposition is protesting, was issued when Uddhav Thackeray was the CM with support of Sharad Pawar.