The Ministry of Civil Service has cleared 53 candidates to serve at the Ministry of Economy and Finance at salary levels based on their experience and level of education.

The applicants are contract workers who will now be given full-time positions.

A letter sent by Minister of Civil Service Prum Sokha to Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth said the former did not object to any of the 53 candidates.

To encourage the issuance of staff numbers and prepare salary for new officials quickly, relevant ministries have to fill out civil servant information sheets within two weeks and prepare salary numbers to ensure new employees are paid after receiving a staff ID number, Sokha said.

“Internship is not allowed until the Covid-19 situation improves,” he said.

There has been some criticism on Facebook with some calling it an injustice. Critics have said that an examination should have been conducted to select the most qualified officials and that the selection process was not transparent.

In response, spokeman Youk Bunna told The Post on Tuesday that the 53 officials had been contract officers at the Ministry of Economy and Finance for a long time. This ministry has policies from the government in selecting officials, he said.

“The Ministry of Economy and Finance follows the law by having examinations and interviews to select officials,” Bunna said.

He said these officials do not pass automatically. The ministry has a properly organised committee to evaluate candidates based on their work experience and opinions from units they have worked with. All candidates fulfilled the criteria.

“The selected candidates used to work at the ministry and they are well versed with the procedures in the units where they worked,” he said.