GETCO job aspirants call off strike for 48 hours, give ultimatum to govt | Ahmedabad News

Warning of an aggressive protest if the government fails to withdraw its decision, the protesters, led by Gujarat AAP leader Yuvrajsinh Jadeja, met the managing director of GETCO on Friday and handed over a memorandum, demanding the immediate release of appointment letters and a withdrawal of the decision to conduct the re-exam on December 28 and 29 and written test on January 7.

On Friday evening, Jadeja said, “Around 80 per cent of the protestors have agreed to pause the protest for 48 hours, granting time to the state to withdraw its decision to hold re-exam. While the aspirants are willing to undergo another pole test – which has been found to have technical errors in the past – they are against re-appearing for the written examination. The GETCO MD has assured us that they will work out a solution.”

“We are giving them some time but if they fail to come up with a reasonable solution, the protest will resume at this location,” he added.
The pole tests were conducted between March 6 and March 13 while the written exam was held on September 9. Over 1,200 aspirants who cleared the exams contended that they had “resigned from private jobs” in hope of the quick recruitment in GETCO but have been left “without money” since September this year. The protesting candidates were backed by AAP and Congress leaders on Thursday.

A candidate, Jitesh Parmar from Vadodara, who quit his job in a private firm, said: “I had spent six months preparing for the written exam. When I cleared the exam and the verification process, I also underwent a medical fitness check and thereafter, I was told that my appointment letter would be sent within a week. My family was so thrilled that we even distributed sweets in the neighbourhood. This development has not only left my family worried but it also means that the hard work of six months has been wasted.”

Another candidate from Surat, who cleared the exam, said, “I have dependent parents, a wife and two children. I quit my job as a helper in a textile shop when the GETCO office said my appointment letter will be sent within a few days… If I do not receive a paycheck in January, my family will have to beg for food. I have already spent so much money on preparing for the exam and travelling to different places for the tests and medical check-ups.” “The government has left no option for candidates like me than to consider taking the extreme step,” he added.

Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Rushikesh Patel, had said that the government cancelled the recruitment process after finding substance in complaints of “irregularities, difficulties and deficiencies” in the pole tests.