More than 15,000 posts related to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) will be filled at the earliest, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar told the Legislative Council on Tuesday. The appointment of remaining members on the MPSC panel will be done by July 31, he said, adding the state government is also mulling to increase the number of members on the panel from the current six to 11 or 13 so that the process of interviews is expedited.
The issue of delay in conducting MPSC exams and the final interviews echoed in the Upper House against the backdrop of suicide committed by Swapnil Lonkar, a 24-year-old MPSC aspirant from Pune, who had cleared the preliminary and mains exams of 2019 and was waiting for the final interview.
"The incident of Swapnil Lonkar's suicide is unfortunate. It should not have happened with anyone," the deputy chief minister said.
The process related to interviews was stalled after the Supreme Court stayed the Maratha reservation, given by the erstwhile government, he said.
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Pawar told the House that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had asked him to hold a meeting of officials to come up with concrete measures for announcing the results of MPSC exams at the earliest.
"As per the instructions, we held a meeting of officials and chalked out a concrete plan to announce the results. We have given instructions to fill the vacant posts in various departments, and have also approved filling of vacancies in various categories of the MPSC since 2018. A total of 15,511 posts related to the MPSC will be filled at the earliest," said Pawar, who also heads the Finance ministry.
Apart from this, vacant posts in the police and public health departments will also be filled, he said.
Speaking about the appointment of members of the MPSC panel, Pawar said the state government has given an in-principle approval to increase the number of panel members to 11 or 13 from the current six.
"There are already two members on the panel. The process of appointing two more is underway and the remaining two posts will also be filled by July 31. The process of increasing the number of members on the panel to 11 or 13 has also begun," the deputy chief minister said.
Leader of Opposition in the council Pravin Darekar asked Pawar to announce a time-bound programme to fill the vacant posts.
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