Pune man finally gets MSRTC job

A 41yearold graduate from Pune who had to sell idli to earn a living for his family finally got a job with Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC as per the directives of Bombay High CourtThe petitioner Gautam Mailagir was deprived of a job as ldquoclerkcumtypistrdquo with MSRTC even after securing 7872 percentage in the online examination held in 2018 on the grounds that his basic computer certification was not from Maharashtra State Certificate in Information Technology MSCIT but from Maharashtra State Board of Vocational Examination MSBVEldquoI was among the top 10 scorers and ranked seven I was confident of getting selected and in April 2018 I got an email from MSRTC stating that I was selected for the post However while conducting scrutiny of documents I was verbally informed by MSRTC officials that the computer course certificate of MSBVE was not acceptablerdquo said MailagirIt was only after the matter reached the Bombay High Court that it came to light that the state government had issued a Government Resolution GR in 2013 directing that 86 other institutes of computer certification can be accepted for recruitment A fact which according to the petitionerrsquos lawyer MSRTC deliberately hid to deprive hundreds of job applicantsmidday had in its article dated August 6 highlighted the directives of Bombay HC favouring Mailagir who was confident that his financial difficulties would come to an end soonUndergoing trainingHe is currently undergoing a mandatory onemonth training programme at MSRTC Baramati divisional workshop located nearly 120 kms from his residence and his daily routine training includes reporting to the workshop observing duty being performed by the staff and discussing the nature of workMailagir told midday ldquoI received a phone call from the MSRTC divisional office Pune and after submission of my computer course certificate I was directed to undergo twodaysrsquo medical checkup at Sassoon Hospital A few days later I was directed to report for training at Baramatirdquo He said ldquoAs per MSRTC norms during the training period trainee staff are entitled for R150 per monthrdquo Regarding his regular payment post training Gautam said ldquoI am yet tobe appraised of the same I will come to know about those details post trainingrdquoldquoThis job is very important for me to improve my financial condition My wife Swati 28 works as a security guard on an hourly payment of R60 and I used to sell idli making anywhere between R80 to R150 on an average a day I could not get my youngest daughter Gargi five admitted to a school as we could not afford a school fee of R25000 My elder son Shitanshu eight is a Std III studentrdquo said GautamAdvocate speakAdvocate Rajeshwar Panchal for Mailagir said ldquoI am glad that the petitioner has joined duty Thus the order of the Bombay HC has been implemented and complied with by MSRTC I recall that the petitioner was almost about to lose hope when COVID19 pandemic led to a lockdown and courts were not functioning like earlier However I assured him that once courts start functioning normally we would get justice This case is an example as to how wrongful interpretation of rule causes a common man to go through a traumatic experienceOther sideAdvocate Yashodeep Deshmukh who represented MSRTC before the Bombay HC said ldquoWe had defended the matter before the division bench of Bombay HC as per the then recruitment policy and instruction from MSRTC However there was a change in the stand at higher level in consonance with the GR with a view to extend the benefit to maximum number of candidates applying for selection in MSRTC In line with the said decision and the directives of the HC prompt steps were taken by MSRTC to ensure that the applicant was given a job and his sufferings were put to an endrdquo7872Percentage scored by the petitioner