Mumbai: Now, a recruitment scandal in the BMC

The BMC is set to come under heavy fire again, this time over a recruitment scam

The BMC's chest of scams is a bottomless pit. While it is still trying to save face in the sweeper, road and desilting scams, an alert citizen has unearthed what could be the tip of another massive scam. He has found that the civic body selected 47 clerks after it issued an advertisement for recruitment to only 12 posts in 2013. Of these 47, 35 are on payroll.

The irregularity in recruitment is likely to have escaped notice had it not been for a Mumbaikar who was "curious" about the BMC's job selection process.

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He filed an RTI application and the response blew the rug from under his feet. "I found that the number of people recruited were more than the openings mentioned in the advertisement," he said on the condition of anonymity.

Sensing he was on the cusp of a massive find, he sought detailed information under the RTI on the selection process and the list of selected candidates. "The papers furnished by the BMC cited that 47 candidates were selected for the clerical post and of these, 35 have joined the service."

The whistleblower said he has raised the issue with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' office. "I have written a letter to the chief minister's office, urging him to initiate a detailed probe into the recruitment scam."

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In his letter, he questioned the functioning of the municipal secretary department and its head, Narayan Pathade.

Pathade did not reply to text messages and calls. Attempts to get in touch with BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta yielded no result either.

Clerical staff fall under the Class C category (the lowermost rung) and can earn promotions following years of service. The BMC's total staff strength is around 1.4 lakh.