A group of shortlisted candidates have filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. According to the group, misconduct and administrative lapses occurred in the ministry’s recruitment process which happened recently. The ACC is currently reviewing the case based on the group’s allegations.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport announced vacancies for four different positions, Knowledge Management and Communication Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Technical Expert, and Project Manager, in February.
25 candidates were shortlisted for the posts. However, the majority of the shortlisted candidates did not get to sit for the interview conducted last Thursday. The group that filed the complaint with the ACC claimed that only eight individuals sat for the interview, adding that the rest were unaware of the interview date.
This, they claim, is a lapse on the ministry’s part for failing to communicate properly with them via phone call or email. The interview schedule was posted on the ministry’s website and official Facebook page last Tuesday.
“As per RCSC Act Section 22, Clause 3.1 and 3.2, it gives an authority to question the recruiter on whether the interview process is conducted fair and transparent. As per the advertisement, it was announced that the short-listed candidate will be contacted for a selection interview. Neither did they make any phone calls or attempt to send any emails,” said Lobzang Dorji, a shortlisted candidate.
Another shortlisted candidate said, “I continuously checked my email and regularly monitored their website and Facebook pages after applying for the post, but there were no updates on the shortlisted candidates. I checked on the 18th, 19th, and even on the 20th, but I didn’t see any updates. The selection interview was scheduled for the 20th at 9:15 am, but by the time I found out, it was already too late. I couldn’t understand what happened on those days because no updates were visible to me. According to the advertisement, shortlisted candidates were supposed to be contacted for an interview, but I was never informed, neither by phone nor by email.”
The shortlisted candidates also met with officials from the ministry regarding the matter yesterday.
However, the Ministry clarified that 13 of the shortlisted candidates turned up for the interview. The officials said that their post on Facebook and website should suffice and that there was no need to call individually.
Lobzang Dorji said, “The justification provided by the ministry during the in-person meeting was surprising to the shortlisted candidates. The ministry claims that posting the list of shortlisted candidates on social media and the website is sufficient notification, but we disagree. Social media is not an official platform for such announcements. For instance, if I don’t use social media platforms like Facebook, how am I supposed to know whether I was selected or not?”
Another allegation the shortlisted candidates raised is that the ministry initially uploaded the shortlist on Facebook on March 18 and later edited it on March 20, the same day the interview was conducted. They claim this is suspicious.
Officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport stated that the changes to the post were made because the initial upload was blurry and unclear. They clarified that there was nothing suspicious about the shortlist, as the content remained unchanged from the one uploaded on the website on the 18th of March.
BBS also reached out to a few candidates who attended the interview on March 20. They stated that they were not contacted via phone calls or email but learned about the interview date through the ministry’s Facebook post.
The ministry also clarified that such issues had never arisen before in its years of the recruitment process. They stated that posting the shortlisted candidates’ list on the website and Facebook has been a longstanding practice within the ministry.
According to the ministry, the case was promptly reviewed upon notice, and the Ministerial Human Resource Committee, the highest decision-making body for HR actions in the ministry, decided to provide an equal and fair opportunity to all 25 shortlisted candidates.
The ministry stated that a new date would be set, and the interview would be conducted once again for all of them.
Sonam Yuden
Edited by Phub Gyem
