Lack of system and bureaucracy cripples SDAT
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Chennai: Lack of system, bureaucracy and intervention by influential people have crippled the recruitment process in Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) for the past one-and-a- half years.
The authority is finding it difficult to fill 35 posts despite 8,000 receiving odd applications. Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, a staunch supporter of sports, has been pumping in money to the usually neglected SDAT, but things are not rosy with the high profile sports body vested with the role of shaping champions from Tamil Nadu, it is pointed out.
According to informed sources, there are about 20 junior assistant posts, 10 assistant posts, one commercial accountant post; two assistant engineer posts (sports technology and electrical) lying vacant since 2014.
“I have applied for the post of assistant, hoping that working with SDAT will be fun, but SDAT also functions like other government departments. Like me, several graduates submitted applications last year, but still there is no progress on filling up the vacant posts,” said a job seeker with SDAT seeking anonymity. He said the interaction of SDAT staff with applicants was usually rude. Lack of staff affects administration and if administration is affected it may not have direct impact on athletes, but there will be a ripple effect affecting the sports fraternity of TN”, said a coach associated with SDAT.
When contacted, SDAT general manager V R. Newbegin Chellappa said the SDAT had no recruitment board on its own and had to depend on Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.
Further, TNPSC had its norms and schedule of functioning and the delay was due to multiple administrative reasons. Now, as a policy it had been decided to form an executive committee (EC) comprising top government officials and the EC convened last week and had given procedures to speed up the recruitment process, the GM said.
However as a saving grace to SDAT, athletes and coaches during their interaction with DC had no complaints about SDAT. They admitted that after a recent change in the top in SDAT, things had been improving in the last six months. These were issues that cropped up in 2013 and were yet to be resolved, said an SDAT coach.
Allegations on transparency denied
An unusual experience it was for a city scribe. “Sir, there is a serious allegation against SDAT that there are people demanding cut for recruitments and there is no transparency in your office.”
“Please share the data available with you and some one may be misguiding you” was the response from the no-nonsense Member-Secretary of SDAT, Shambu Kallolikar. Most of the vacancies are due to retirements and we are on the process of recruiting. If you have decided to tarnish the image of SDAT, I don’t want to talk. But if you want to know the other side, please visit my office. I will put my officials to talk to you and you can go through the necessary files you want to check.
In fact, the secretary went a step further and assigned three officials from SDAT to answer the queries raised by Deccan Chronicle. “We have brought so many changes to SDAT and the secretary has asked to share the data”, said the administrative staff at SDAT.
However, the SDAT staff failed to share the rank list and marks obtained by candidates who appeared for the assistant engineer (sports technology) and also failed to elaborate on the need for changing the category of selection process in a few technical posts.
SDAT sources denied allegations that there were no transparency in recruitment process. “We are going as per official process to prevent any foul play during the process of recruitment,” the source added.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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