Re: Staff selection for the UNODC system in India

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum Members,

As per the mail from Yumnam Sanjay and as the nome which has been existing for

the last 10 years in the North East we must come out in a very strong way

otherwises these parts of the India will be as it was before.

Way back the ICMR also has done lots of wrong doing and the recieving ends were

the people of these parts and the partners.

So, I humbly request to all the Policy Makers of any Agencies to look into it

in a very serious manners so that to bring some changes in these areas.

Thanking you

Kh.Manihar

E-mail <khomanihar@...>

[Guest guest]

Friends,

The key issue in recruitment to positions cannot be anything else but

professional competency. Such competency should be primarily gauged by

experience in the field (in this case, of drugs and, to an extent, HIV since

HIV in North East India is very closely linked with drug use). Rightly the

advertisement to the position of Co-ordinator (referred to by Y. Singh) asked

for seven years of experience in the field of drugs and HIV. I guess this

requirement is referring to fulltime experience.

Experience in a particular organisational set-up may be a practical

consideration though it restricts the choice of person. This is seen as

necessary when the project period is short and the system that is delivering

the initiative/ project is very large and consequently has a complex

administrative set-up. Albeit not the best, this appears justifiable.

Relevant orientation to the system at the start of the appointment is an

alternative that can free the recruiter to look beyond those with experience in

the organization. An internal recruitment process suits best a situation where

practical considerations need to be high on the priority. Region-specific

experience is a worthwhile eligibility criterion.

The advertisement asked for experience in a UN administered project and work

experience in the North Eastern States of India. How many people would there be

who would meet this requirement with the seven-year experience? A second issue

in recruitment is commitment to the issue and project location/ beneficiary

community(ies). There is often an assumption made (sometimes rightly) that

people from the beneficiary community have the highest commitment to issues that

affect them. Increasingly, this does not appear to be the case. Socially,

North East India is in a state of transition where strong community values are

giving way to individual ambition. The recent arrest of the political leader

from Manipur on drug-related charges is a case in point.

The umpteen instances of corruption also fit well into this logic. An objective

look at organizations where personnel have been recruited on ethnic

considerations will also have many lessons for us.

No doubt that North East India has not got the importance that it deserved (This

is gradually beginning to change and let us hope that the positive trend

continues). All the more reason that strictly professional and not any other

considerations determine recruitment to positions.

S

Sundar " <sdaniel@...