The Akhil Gujarat Kamdar Association and the Gujarat Utkarsh Mandal, too, have alleged that the ONGC management was giving short shrift to Gujaratis and favouring outsiders while recruiting Class III and IV staff Group general manager S Prasad, however, claimed the management honoured the regulation of recruiting locals for 85 per cent of the vacancies at any given time, though the ONGC hadn't even received any circular to this regard.

Water Supplies Minister Narottambhai Patel doesn't seem to agree. In a letter to the ONGC management -- a copy of which is with Express Newsline -- he wrote, ``I am being given to understand that ONGC has been a regular defaulter in the implementation of Parmar Committee Report on recruiting 85 per cent local inhabitants through the local employment exchange''.

Interestingly, though the AGKA alleged an ONGC officer's son was favoured over others in the recruitment to a junior assistant technician's post, the PEU did not raise the issue at all.

The candidate in question was allegedly not even registered with the local employment exchange when he was selected for the first time. The shortlist of candidates was scrapped following an uproar from a SC/ST employees' association, after which the candidate enrolled himself at the exchange and was selected in the last week of August.

The AGKA further alleged that contractors were pressurised by the management to employ non-locals. Sources said there were 40 such ``outsiders'' working in the loading and maintenance sections.

Disgruntled employees are demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into ONGC appointments; they have raised the issue in letters to Ashok Bhatt, who holds the labour and employment portfolios.

Reiterating that the management was not violating any norms, Prasad, however, maintained that efforts were made to exploit local sentiments. In fact, all junior stenographers appointed in June were Gujaratis, he added. ``As long as the recognised union is happy with the management and its practices, there was no cause for concern,'' he said.