By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 2 Sep: The issue of alleged backdoor appointments in the State Assembly Secretariat has snowballed to become a bigger political issue than the recruitment scam related to UKSSSC now. A protest was held today outside the residence of Cabinet Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal in Rishikesh against recruitment of 72 persons on his orders in the Secretariat during his tenure as the Assembly Speaker. During the protest, one person Kanak Dhanai, who led the protest was picked up by the Police and removed from the spot. Dhanai is the leader of Uttarakhand Jan Ekta Party.
In all, eight persons, including Kanak Dhanai were taken into custody after registering a case under Section 151 of the IPC. Later, they were also presented in the SDM court in Rishikesh.
It may be recalled that in the year 2021, 72 people were appointed in the Uttarakhand Assembly Secretariat and the posts included that of Additional Personal Secretary, Review Officers, Assistant Review Officers and posts in the Research Section of the Assembly Secretariat and in the Accounts Section. It may be further recalled that before these appointments were made, the Assembly Secretariat had also advertised these posts. A written test was to be held for selection to these posts but was postponed twice. In all, 8000 persons had applied for the posts after paying Rs 1,000, each. Of course, irregular appointments have been made during the term of almost all the speakers since the formation of the state and maximum appointments were made during the term of Govind Singh Kunjwal at 158.
