Jammu youth protest against discrimination, exploitation Bias against Jammu youth shall resonate in Delhi: Harsh

By admin On Feb 12, 2017

STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Accusing the Jammu and Kashmir government of “perpetuating discrimination” against the educated youths of Jammu, J and K National Panthers Party (JKNPP) on Saturday staged a protest against providing the “lion’s share” in employment to Kashmir, besides ex-gratia and jobs to the stone-pelters in the Valley. Led by the outfit’s chairman and former state minister Harsh Dev Singh, scores of JKNPP activists and educated, unemployed youths held a demonstration at the Exhibition Ground here. They raised anti-government slogans and burnt effigies as well as photocopies of their degree certificates as a mark of protest against the government’s decision to give ex-gratia and jobs to stone-pelters in the Valley. Referring to the certificates as “redundant pieces of paper”, PhD and MPhil degree holders, double post-graduates and contractual lecturers set the photocopies ablaze to express their embitterment against the “dark rule” of the ruling PDP-BJP alliance in the state.
Dubbing the state government’s announcement to give jobs as well as ex-gratia to the next of kin of slain militants and thousands of stone-pelters as “highly offensive”, Singh alleged that in the backdrop of BJP’s ‘Achhe Din’ slogan, “ruffians, vandals, hooligans and illiterates” were being glorified. “Whereas, the educated youth are being discriminated against, exploited, suppressed and treated like disposables,” he told reporters.
“Those who had set Kashmir on fire, danced to the tunes of the secessionists, supported slain terrorist Burhan Wani’s ideology, attacked army camps, pelted stones at the security forces, snatched weapons from the defence personnel, torched schools and public property, unfurled Pakistan’s, ISIS’ flags, shouted anti-India slogans and waged war against the State are being given incentives under the government’s insane policy. “On the contrary, the state government continues to pursue the policy of use-and-throw towards the educated youth of Jammu,” Singh alleged. Anguished over the “deprivation of the Jammu youths” in selections in government services, Singh made a reference to the recently-published select list of assistant professors and alleged that of the 58 posts in the discipline of commerce, only 13 went to the Jammu region whereas, the rest was given to Kashmir.
He said earlier, select lists also used to mention that of the 34 candidates in history, nine belonged to the Jammu region. Similarly, seven out of 26 in physics, nine out of 27 in psychology as well as in other subjects were given to the region.
Singh also alleged “highly-biased” selections in the Economics and Statistics Directorate, wherein out of the 26 candidates selected for the posts of junior statistical assistants, only one belonged to the Jammu region. “In the Health and Medical Education department, out of 123 selections of consultants in radiology, medicine, ophthalmology, ENT, orthopaedics, gynaecology, pathology and paediatrics, only 23 belong to the Jammu region,” he said. Singh claimed that the “bias and prejudice” in the selections had not only demoralised the aspiring Jammu youths, but sparked a colossal outrage which needed immediate attention of the government. Dismayed over the fact that the protesters included even contractual lecturers who set photocopies of their degree certificates ablaze, Singh said the teaching fraternity had been rendering their services with zeal and honesty in schools and colleges on paltry salaries with the hope that they would be regularised to earn like their permanent compeers.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Gagan Pratap, Parshottam Parihar, Nirmal Kishore, Partap Singh, Mohinder Singh, Udheyveer, Rajesh Gondhi, Kewal Krishan Sharma, Gurcharan Singh, Vinod Kumar, Vishav Singh, Dr. Neetu Mahajan, Pallavi Mahajan, Ritika Dogra, Rimpi Gupta, Kanchan Verma, Rasmeet Kaur, Shalini Salathia, Balvinder Kaur, Sangeeta Sambyal, Kanchan Bala, Reva Rani, Seema Rajput and Anuradha.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressing a public meeting, at Dhol Khad, Kathua on Saturday.