HC seeks govt’s reply on optometrist recruitment

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has directed the state govt not to issue appointment letters to regularly selected optometrists till nest date.The court has granted the state govt an opportunity to submit its response. The court has fixed next hearing on April 21. A bench of Justice Rajiv Singh passed the interim order on a writ petition filed by Sudeep Shukla and 45 others.The petitioners stated that they were appointed as optometrists on contract basis years ago under the National Health Mission scheme. Their counsel Alok Mishra argued that the petitioners have been providing satisfactory services on contract for a long time and therefore their experience should be given priority in regular recruitment. However, their demand is being ignored and a new regular selection process is underway.In course of hearing, Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission stated that the recruitment process for regular optometrists had been completed and the selection list has been sent to the state govt for making appointment. It also clarified that the rules do not provide for preference for contract employees. At the same time, the state govt sought time to file its reply in the matter.Considering over all circumstances, the court issued an interim order directing the state govt not to issue appointment letters to any candidates under the selection process until the next hearing. It also warned the state govt that if its response was not filed by the next date, appropriate orders would be passed in the matter.