PDP govt’s new employment policy: Recruits to be paid half, seven years probation

The recruits will be hired on a contractual basis and will be only regularized based on their performance. (Source: Express Archive)

Aiming to create 15,000 jobs in the state, the Jammu-Kashmir government has announced a new employment policy on Thursday. To fast track the process, the government is not only skipping norms, but also recruits will be paid only half their salaries for seven years during probation period. They will be only regularized after receiving satisfactory reports about their performance.

On Sunday after chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed chaired cabinet meeting, the government announced the formation of a new job policy for the state and it was decided that thousands of gazetted and non-gazetted vacancies will be filled on contractual basis.

The new policy not only sparked criticism from the opposition parties but also from the unemployed youth who termed it as an anti-youth policy and deviation from the promises that were made by PDP and BJP leaders during their election campaign. To blunt the criticism, the government issued a clarification that this policy is only meant to fast track the appointments of close to 12000-15000 employees especially in the remote areas of the state where there is a dearth of doctors, lectures and teachers.

However, these newly appointed recruits would be still waiting to become permanent employees when the state goes to polls in 2020.

J&K’s Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar told The Indian Express that the decision would help the government to fill the vacancies of Assistant Surgeons, Lecturers and Teachers.

“Once people will know all the points of the new policy they will not oppose it, and unemployed youth from every part of the state could apply for the jobs,” he said.

Akthar said that to facilitate operationalisation of the new recruitment policy at the earliest, Jammu and Kashmir Special Recruitment Ordinance would now be submitted to the governor for issuing the Ordinance.

J&K’s former Finance Minister and senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather termed this new policy as a farce. “They are trying to put an end to the proper norms of appointment. By adopting this policy, it will be now up to Deputy Commissioners and few district officials to give jobs to people. These officials could be easily manipulated by their political bosses,” he said.

Rather said that by adopting this method the government is trying to make institutions like Public Service Commission, State Service Recruitment Board defunct. “Deputy Commissioners are the busiest officers and how is it possible by making DC’s as a chairman the jobs will be provided on the fast track basis,” he said.

Economist, Prof Nisar Ali believes the new recruitment policy is unwarranted. “In our state there are already well established institutions like SSRB, PSC, but the government has started sidelining those institutions,” he said.

Ali who has served as Economic advisor in the government said that once there will be an ordinance then it will become a new mechanism for recruitment. “If government was sincere they could have easily put SSRB and PSC on the fast track,” Ali said.

Congress national spokesman Salman Anees Soz said the government’s new recruitment policy may seem expedient but it may have adverse long-term impacts.

Soz said that original institutions for recruitment should be strengthened and made more transparent, accountable and nimble. “We should not cut them out of the process,” he said.

Source:: Indian Express