Tirupati: In the wake of Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) removing 69 shift operators for securing jobs with fake ITI certificates, there are suspicions that more employees with questionable credentials are continuing to work in the department.
With this, investigators have turned their focus on officials who handled the recruitments.
These developments have come about after allegations that during the previous YSRC regime, APSPDCL recruited hundreds of contract personnel, including shift operators, in violation of recruitment rules. When the NDA government came to power, it ordered an investigation into these allegations. This led to examination of educational certificates and other records related to recruitments made between 2019 and 2024.
In April this year, APSPDCL terminated the services of 69 shift operators after a probe found that they had secured employment by submitting fake ITI certificates through outsourcing agencies. The probe established that some employees working in substations did not possess the mandatory ITI (Electrician) qualification required for the post.
Sources say some of the dismissed employees are using their contacts within the distribution company to return to service by producing newly obtained ITI (Electrician) certificates. It is stated some of the dismissed employees had submitted certificates from trades other than the electrical stream to obtain jobs meant for candidates with electrical qualifications.
Investigators are examining how such candidates could be recruited in the first place and whether any officials facilitated these appointments by bypassing the recruitment process. “The latest inquiry will look into the entire recruitment process, including the verification of educational qualifications and approvals given at different levels,” a source familiar with the investigation said.
The Vigilance team is further trying to find out whether any money changed hands to secure jobs and whether there had been any collusion between candidates, outsourcing agencies, and departmental personnel.
Sources said recruitment records, qualification certificates, and approval files of officials involved in the recruitment process are being scrutinised to determine whether any irregularities have been overlooked or deliberately ignored.
APSPDCL chairman and managing director Shiva Shankar Lotheti is understood to be firm on the decision of sacking the 69 employees who had produced fake certificates.
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