Educated Unemployed Engineers And Labor Societies Benefit From Pune Zilla Parishad’s New Lottery System

Pune, 2nd April 2023: Pune Zilla Parishad has introduced a digital lottery system to allocate work to educated unemployed engineers and labor societies, in an effort to increase transparency and counter allegations of favoritism. The move follows a directive from the state government to allocate works below Rs 10 lakhs without e-tendering and through an online system.

One-third of the work valued below Rs 10 lakh will be given to educated unemployed youth, and a further one-third of work is to be given to labor societies. The unemployed engineers must be diploma holders in civil engineering or Bachelor of Engineering (Civil).

The first online lottery system has already allocated 181 works to unemployed engineers and labor societies out of 1,200 applications received. The previous manual lottery system was plagued by allegations that works were not advertised properly, and only a few people were made aware of the available works. Several clerks worked on receiving the applications and tabulating the list of interested parties, which led to allegations that interest in works was not registered properly.

On the date of the lottery, the additional chief executive officer spent the entire day in a crowded auditorium preparing chits for each applicant and then drawing them out work-wise. It was a time-consuming process that imposed high administrative costs.

By digitizing the process, Pune Zilla Parishad has helped save administrative costs and time. The software system has been audited multiple times and has all the requisite security certificates. There have been no complaints from anyone about the system, officials said.

The process has been documented by sharing videos of the entire process and the software screen, ensuring the highest transparency and accountability. The ZP CEO congratulated Additional Chief Executive Officer Chandrakant Waghmare and Executive Engineer Yuvraj Desai for their work, which was showcased in the Zilla Parishad conference and widely appreciated.

Digitizing the system has enhanced transparency and adherence to the law for all stakeholders. The move also ensures that works are allocated fairly, without any favoritism or bias. With the success of the first online lottery system, it is likely that more zilla parishads across the state will follow suit.