University grads apply for sweeper jobs
Fri, September 05 2008
An advertisement for 397 sweeper posts by the district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar resulted in 1,076 applications. Among the applicants are more than a dozen university graduates. Those selected will get jobs as sweepers in the villages of Gautam Budh Nagar.
Though the district administration is surprised by the applications, they maintain no preference will be given to those who are over qualified for a job whose minimum requirement is to have passed class 5.
“There are several applications from graduates and postgraduates,” Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Gautam Budh Nagar, Shivakant Dwivedi, told IANS.
“The selection process includes document verification, practical test on cleaning and then an interview,” said an administration official.
The practical test is to ensure that those selected don’t shy away from cleaning work once they get the job.
“We understand that job security must have driven these highly qualified people to apply for jobs as sweepers, but we conduct practical tests, too, and those who can sweep properly and don’t shy away from cleaning even sewers would be selected,” an official said.
One applicant Satish Sharma, 33, is a master’s degree in agriculture.
“I am not shy of working as a sweeper. Also this job provides me with job security,” Sharma told IANS.
The resident of Dadri in Uttar Pradesh is married with two daughters. He works as a helper in a pathology lab.
Another graduate candidate, Anita Nagar, 20, said: “I don’t have any problems in working as a sweeper.”
The administration believes the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission in December is a major factor in getting so many applications from overqualified candidates.
“Currently the total salary of a sweeper is nearly Rs.5,500, (about $133), but after implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, it would touch around Rs.10,000 (about $242).
“Probably they thought it is better to work as a sweeper than to remain unemployed,” an official said.
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