By Manzar Bilal, TwoCicles.net,
Patna: Neyaz Ahmad, former Director General of Police (DGP), Jharkhand has been appointed chairman of the state’s Staff Selection Commission (SSC)—an agency responsible for the recruitment of subordinate services employees in the state.
The Personnel and Administrative Reforms department of the state issued a notification for Ahmad’s appointment last week. With his appointment, Mr. Ahmad has become the first regular chairman of the Commission, as no one was appointed for the post since the state was carved out from Bihar in 2000. He has taken charge from Commercial Taxes secretary, Alka Tiwari who was holding additional charge of the agency.
Neyaz Ahmad greeting the Governor of Jharkhand M.O.H. Farook
Ahmad, who retired as Jharkhand DGP in February this year, hails from Asthawan, a locality in Nalanda district of Bihar. He did graduation from Saint Stephen, New Delhi and cleared Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam in his first attempt in 1974.
He served different posts as IPS officer in the undivided Bihar. He was given the responsibility of Director General, Vigilance Bureau of the newly formed Jharkhand. While being on the post, he handled corruption cases against former chief minister, Madhu Koda and his former Cabinet colleagues, Enos Ekka, Hari Narayan Rai and Kamalesh Singh.
In January 2010, then Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren appointed him Director General of Police (DGP) of the state. He became the first Muslim chief of the state police. As the DGP his works got appreciation from people of both government and public classes. He took several steps successfully to curb the Naxal threat to the state.
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is responsible for making about 90 per cent of the total recruitments in the government jobs including constables, teachers and assistant grade staff for secretariat. The rest is done by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC).
Soon after taking the charge, Ahmad has been quoted as saying in media “It was huge challenge for the agency to streamline the recruitment process, which has been marred by irregularities. I will try to justify the role and expectations with which the government has appointed me.”
Is Ahmad’s appointment a ray of hope for Muslim candidates? “Of course, most Muslims complain that despite being talented they are discriminated in selection for jobs. So, I hope Mr. Neyaz will do justice with the candidates of all sections including Muslims and will select the candidates only on the basis of talent and qualification and not religions or castes,” said Mohammad Tanveer of Urdu daily Sangam (Jharkhand)reacting to the news of Ahmad’s appointment.
While welcoming the appointment of Ahmad, Rizwan Ahmad of United Milli Forum said that, “indeed he is an honest officer and hopefully he will reform the system of the Commission. But still we should not be optimistic that he is going to do anything special for Muslims because as DGP we did not see that he took any step to increase Muslim representation in Police.” he said.
“We should not forget that his appointment is an attempt by BJP to get Muslim’s sympathy. Obviously, he will follow the government’s guidance while selecting the candidates and everyone knows the agenda of BJP about Muslims,” he added.