The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday slapped show cause notices on at least nine of its fire officers for giving fraudulent certificates.
The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) has been in the spotlight in view of the Rajkot fire tragedy that killed 28 persons. The nine AFES officers, currently making fire safety checks at gaming zones, allegedly got certified as sub-fire officers based on fraudulent or unlawfully obtained sponsorship letters.
A source in AFES said these nine are divisional fire officers Om Jadeja and Inayat Shaikh; station fire officers Abhijit Gadhavi, Anirudh Gadhavi, Shubham Khadia, Mehul Gadhavi and Sudhir Gadhavi, sub-officer Ashif Shaikh and divisional fire officer Kaizad Dastoor.
Vigilance inquiry
The civic body in February 2022 began a vigilance inquiry into the sponsorship letters furnished by these officers. An AFES officer said these officers have been told to respond to the notices within a week. Failure to reply could cost them their jobs.
National Fire Service College (NFSC) in Nagpur is the only institution in the country whose certifications are recognized by fire departments for recruitment. A two-year certificate course from NFSC is mandatory for recruitment and promotion to the post of sub-fire officer.
NFSC admits candidates through two channels: a competitive exam or sponsorship letters from private industrial companies or government fire departments. The allegations are that these fire officers gained admission based on counterfeit or unlawfully obtained sponsorship letters.
An inquiry by Nagpur police into sponsorship letters in 2022 had revealed that 25 senior AFES officers and 100 fire officers in Gujarat had discrepancies in their sponsorship letters.
Also Read: Rajkot Fire Tragedy: HC Pulls Up Rajkot Civic Body
