With many employees retiring from Delhi’s premier land-owning agency, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is in for a paradigm shift as it has begun hiring young professionals on a contractual basis. Officials said while 50 vacancies in two departments have already been filled up by this new move, more such personnel will be hired in the next four months.

Reportedly, the selection committee responsible for engaging new recruits has been given instructions to focus on engaging fresh graduates or post-graduates from the fields of law, chartered accountancy and management.

According to DDA officials, nearly 1,800 employees have retired in just a year. Currently, there are 15,000 employees in the department. Data available with the DDA also shows that nearly 60 per cent of the employees are above the age of 50 years and approximately 150 employees are retiring every month.

“The strength has now come down to 13,200. We estimate that in the next three years, nearly 30 per cent of the employees will have retired. An analysis has shown that while a regular selection process has engaged good working professionals, the idea of a permanent job somewhere influences a person’s working and efficiency. So, we have decided that if young professionals are hired on a contractual basis, they will be motivated to work hard in the hope that they will get permanent positions,” a senior official said.

Reportedly, the regular selection process includes a written exam and an interview. Officials said 50 employees, with an average age of 30 years, have already been hired on a contractual basis in the finance and law departments.

The DDA will now engage more contract-based employees in the planning and architecture departments in the next four months.

Explaining how a contract-based job offer would attract more takers, a senior official said, “Fresh graduates bring in more ideas. They are willing to apply since these are government jobs, which guarantee job security. Even though each recruitment is through a regular process, the DDA has the discretion to hire employees on a contract basis through walk-in-interviews as well,” the official said. We have noticed that whenever we advertise for a vacant post, there are hundreds of applications. Even law or management graduates are willing to apply. Their contracts may be extended to permanent positions depending on their quality of work.”

DDA vice-chairman Balwinder Kumar, said, “This will make employees more receptive to general public issues. Efficiency and quality of work will also improve.” (Indian Express)