As the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) began conducting interviews for the post of Chief Fire Officer (CFO) on Monday, the arrival of a particular candidate raised eyebrows. The candidate was none other than former CFO-in-charge Partha Brahmbhat who was suspended in September for alleged misbehavior with a colleague.
The VMC, however, said the process for hiring a CFO was initiated before Brahmabhatta’s suspension, adding that it was his “fundamental right” to do so.
Brahmbhat, who was suspended on September 30, following an alleged altercation with a fire officer in which the former assaulted a subordinate, lined up outside the VMC’s conference hall, where a panel of Class I officers interviewed them on Monday.
While Brahmabhat refused to comment on his presence in the interview, VMC officials said he had applied for the post of CFO when the civic body issued an advertisement with the last date for applications in the first week of August. “Applications were invited online and candidates meeting the basic eligibility criteria were selected for the next round of interviews… At that time, Brahmabhat was already holding the charge as CFO. So, his application was a natural move,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The alleged altercation with the fire officer isn’t the only Brahmabhat to be in the news this year. In August, the elected representatives of the city made several complaints against his “conduct” during the Vadodara floods. As soon as the flood water receded from the city on August 31, City Commissioner Dilip Rana assured that the elected representatives would ‘look into’ the complaint of ‘unresponsive’ Brahmbhat. The city’s elected representatives had complained to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel that Brahmbhat was allegedly “unresponsive and not answering phone calls during the flood situation”.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Monday, Rana said, “Brahmabhatt appeared for the interview as part of the selection process. It is his fundamental right to apply for the said post and in this case the application was made before the suspension. Regarding other aspects related to qualifications and his/her suitability for the role, we will look at it as it is the objective of the interview in the selection process.
Among the applicants for the post was Nikunj Azad, who was the CFO in-charge of Vadodara Fire and Emergency Services from the day Brahmabhatta was suspended.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that major cities in the state including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Junagadh, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar were functioning without a CFO. Jamnagar is the only city in Gujarat that has a full-time CFO, the report said.
About a third of all firefighter positions in the state’s eight largest cities are vacant. The shortage has assumed significance due to the massive fire tragedy that hit the city earlier this year – the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot was gutted by fire on 27 May 25.