UNEMPLOYMENT THAT CANNOT EMPLOY ITSELF

6 months of "secret silence" in the poverty reduction department, or for whom have the ARGOS competitions stopped?

Kambag'allikni qisqartirish va bandlik boshqarmasi

At a time when poverty reduction and employment of the population have been elevated to the highest level of state policy, are the poverty reduction and employment departments, which are the executive bodies in the regions, "unable to employ themselves" and falling into decline? The clearest example of this is that for six months now, the position of head of the city employment department has been temporarily held by acting officials, while the main chair remains empty.

This issue, which prominent lawyer Jahongir Mirzaev is raising the alarm about, is not simply a shortage of personnel, but indicates deep-rooted bureaucracy or "secret agreements" within the system. So, why has a leader not been appointed through open competition via the ARGOS system for six months?

Is there a lack of qualified personnel, or is a "game" being played? Officials might make excuses, saying "a worthy candidate cannot be found, they cannot pass ARGOS." But who believes this excuse today? Are there really so few young people with higher education, knowledge of foreign languages, and modern thinking, as well as experienced specialists in our country? Of course not!

The most common old-fashioned method is that a specific person is intended for the position. However, it takes time for that person to meet the ARGOS requirements (experience, diploma, or other criteria). Or they are waiting for another job to "finish." Does the employment of the city's people, the fate of so many unemployed, depend on the arrival of just one "chosen" person? Questions like these are circulating in people's minds.

The ARGOS system requires openness. If the competition is truly fair, an independent candidate who cannot "impose their will" on the above and only works by the law might be appointed. This is not acceptable to some local "elders." Therefore, is it more beneficial to artificially delay the competition process and keep the situation ambiguous?

They say a department without a leader is like a field without an owner. However, six months is not a short period. How many unemployment problems in the city have remained unresolved during this half-year? Under whose supervision are poverty reduction programs being implemented? An acting head of department can never implement full-scale reforms because they lack the authority to make systemic decisions and the confidence in the future. They are merely a guard "keeping the chair warm."

What is the level of the rule of law in the region? If personnel policy is faltering in such a way in the most important state organ, does it not seem like "zeal" is being shown not in the functioning of the law, but in adapting it to one's own interests?