Decision on surveyors appointment tomorrow

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to take a decision on Wednesday whether to appoint surveyors as per the results of an examination conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) in 2011.

The chief minister is scheduled to hold a pre-budget meeting of the Revenue department on Tuesday. Revenue Minister V Sreenivas Prasad and top officials will participate in the meeting. The issue will be discussed at the meeting and a decision taken, sources said.

Prasad had recently announced that the appointment of 1,834 surveyors would be kept in abeyance following allegations that recruitment test papers were leaked. Besides, the licensed surveyors had demanded that they be absorbed as government surveyors. The examination was conducted by the KEA in 2011.

The government had initiated the process to recruit surveyors after a gap of 15 years. Though the then BJP government had ordered a probe by the divisional commissioner of Mysore, it was never conducted.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Prasad, however, said these candidates will not be denied a chance to get the job. “The basic problem pertaining to the selection of the surveyors has been the procedural lapses. Candidates have been rejected by the department officials on account of them having no recognition from any recognised agency. It was a serious lapse on part of the department for having called for applications without making it clear that they require recognition from a recognised agency or university,” he said.

The minister said the situation was complicated as, for decades the department had employed licensed surveyors on contract basis, who were never given a chance to apply for the surveyor’s post. The issue will be discuss with the chief minister, he added.