A month after the Punjab Agriculture Department blew the lid off a “fake recruitment scam” in the state and neighbouring Haryana, the company has shifted its operations from the state capital here to the hinterland, even as police investigations are on.
Allegedly being run under a name similar to that of a state government undertaking, Sahyog Agriculture Marketing Corporation Limited has begun operations in Muktsar and Bathinda. Sources say company officials continue to lure people with assurances of employment, claiming that more than 4,300 vacancies are to be filled soon.
The youth in these areas are being lured with “on-job training” for the posts of Zonal Agriculture Marketing Development Officer, District Agriculture Marketing Development Officer, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Marketing Development Officer, Block Agricultural Marketing Development Officer, supervisor, data entry operator/clerk, technical assistant, legal officer, field officer and peon/junior assistants.
Gurlal Singh of Malout says that he and his friends are being “coerced” by the company officials to apply for a job. The application form can be downloaded from the company’s website and applicants are being asked to pay a fee, varying from Rs 250 to Rs 1,000.
The company is collecting applications online, the last date for which is January 31. "As no selection procedure is mentioned on the website, we suspect that the company could be collecting the application fee and not recruiting people at all,” says Gurlal.
The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali, GS Bhullar, said that the police investigation against the company was now complete and an FIR would be registered against the company officials and directors right away. The cellphone pf company owner SVS Virk was switched off.
The company had come under the scanner of the Punjab government. Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Suresh Kumar had ordered a preliminary inquiry and found that the recruitment drive was fake. The company was initially recruiting people through Mohali-based C-DAC, which undertakes recruitment for the state government. This was probably meant to give the impression that the company was a government-run enterprise.
A few youths recruited by the firm have been sent for training to Punjab Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute in PAU, Ludhiana. Officials of the institute had said they had agreed to train the youth on the basis of an application filed by Virk, but the company had not submitted any identity proof or financial statement.
Allegedly being run under a name similar to that of a state government undertaking, Sahyog Agriculture Marketing Corporation Limited has begun operations in Muktsar and Bathinda. Sources say company officials continue to lure people with assurances of employment, claiming that more than 4,300 vacancies are to be filled soon.
The youth in these areas are being lured with “on-job training” for the posts of Zonal Agriculture Marketing Development Officer, District Agriculture Marketing Development Officer, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Marketing Development Officer, Block Agricultural Marketing Development Officer, supervisor, data entry operator/clerk, technical assistant, legal officer, field officer and peon/junior assistants.
Gurlal Singh of Malout says that he and his friends are being “coerced” by the company officials to apply for a job. The application form can be downloaded from the company’s website and applicants are being asked to pay a fee, varying from Rs 250 to Rs 1,000.
The company is collecting applications online, the last date for which is January 31. "As no selection procedure is mentioned on the website, we suspect that the company could be collecting the application fee and not recruiting people at all,” says Gurlal.
The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali, GS Bhullar, said that the police investigation against the company was now complete and an FIR would be registered against the company officials and directors right away. The cellphone pf company owner SVS Virk was switched off.
The company had come under the scanner of the Punjab government. Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Suresh Kumar had ordered a preliminary inquiry and found that the recruitment drive was fake. The company was initially recruiting people through Mohali-based C-DAC, which undertakes recruitment for the state government. This was probably meant to give the impression that the company was a government-run enterprise.
A few youths recruited by the firm have been sent for training to Punjab Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute in PAU, Ludhiana. Officials of the institute had said they had agreed to train the youth on the basis of an application filed by Virk, but the company had not submitted any identity proof or financial statement.
