Pune man finally gets MSRTC job

Gautam Mailagir with his wife and children.

A 41-year-old graduate from Pune, who had to sell idli to earn a living for his family, finally got a job with Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) as per the directives of Bombay High Court.

The petitioner, Gautam Mailagir, was deprived of a job as "clerk-cum-typist" with MSRTC even after securing 78.72 percentage in the online examination held in 2018 on the grounds that his basic computer certification was not from Maharashtra State Certificate in Information Technology (MSCIT) but from Maharashtra State Board of Vocational Examination (MSBVE).

"I was among the top 10 scorers and ranked seven. I was confident of getting selected and in April 2018, I got an email from MSRTC stating that I was selected for the post. However, while conducting scrutiny of documents, I was verbally informed by MSRTC officials that the computer course certificate of MSBVE was not acceptable," said Mailagir.

It was only after the matter reached the Bombay High Court that it came to light that the state government had issued a Government Resolution (GR) in 2013 directing that 86 other institutes of computer certification can be accepted for recruitment. A fact which, according to the petitioner's lawyer, MSRTC deliberately hid to deprive hundreds of job applicants.

mid-day had, in its article dated August 6, highlighted the directives of Bombay HC favouring Mailagir, who was confident that his financial difficulties would come to an end soon.

Undergoing training

He is currently undergoing a mandatory one-month training programme at MSRTC Baramati divisional workshop, located nearly 120 kms from his residence, and his daily routine training includes reporting to the workshop, observing duty being performed by the staff, and discussing the nature of work.

Mailagir told mid-day, "I received a phone call from the MSRTC divisional office, Pune, and after submission of my computer course certificate, I was directed to undergo two-days' medical checkup at Sassoon Hospital. A few days later, I was directed to report for training at Baramati."

He said, "As per MSRTC norms, during the training period, trainee staff are entitled for R150 per month." Regarding his regular payment post training, Gautam said, "I am yet tobe appraised of the same. I will come to know about those details post training."

"This job is very important for me to improve my financial condition. My wife Swati, 28, works as a security guard on an hourly payment of R60 and I used to sell idli, making anywhere between R80 to R150 on an average a day. I could not get my youngest daughter Gargi, five, admitted to a school, as we could not afford a school fee of R25,000. My elder son Shitanshu, eight, is a Std III student," said Gautam.

Advocate speak

Advocate Rajeshwar Panchal, for Mailagir, said, "I am glad that the petitioner has joined duty. Thus, the order of the Bombay HC has been implemented and complied with by MSRTC. I recall that the petitioner was almost about to lose hope when COVID-19 pandemic led to a lockdown and courts were not functioning like earlier. However, I assured him that once courts start functioning normally, we would get justice. This case is an example as to how wrongful interpretation of rule causes a common man to go through a traumatic experience."

Other side

Advocate Yashodeep Deshmukh, who represented MSRTC before the Bombay HC, said, "We had defended the matter before the division bench of Bombay HC as per the then recruitment policy and instruction from MSRTC. However, there was a change in the stand at higher level, in consonance with the GR, with a view to extend the benefit to maximum number of candidates applying for selection in MSRTC. In line with the said decision and the directives of the HC, prompt steps were taken by MSRTC to ensure that the applicant was given a job, and his sufferings were put to an end."

78.72
Percentage scored by the petitioner