Practice of filling up regular vacancies with adhoc/consolidated/academic arrangement/DRWs year after year is not in national interest

DAYA SAGAR
What to talk of private sector even the Governments are found not lagging behind in exploiting the needy unemployed youth and have been laying / have even laid down/ adopted recruitment rules / policies where in the youth could be appointed giving them ‘underemployed’ status ( unfairly reduced wages even against regular vacancies) where even half the wages otherwise due for job vacancy/ post could be paid. It has also become a common custom for the political leaders and political activists who are when out of power to cry and express concern for the Unemployed youth / growing unemployment as and when they see some elections to parliament / State legislature / UT legislatures approaching. With elections approaching many of political leaders who otherwise normally remain out of reach of the unemployed and ‘underemployed’ segments of the society could be seen talking high of their concern for the unemployed/ underemployed (academic arrangement, contractual, adhoc, Daily rated workers, etc etc )but position on ground mostly remains unchanged. To quote the numbers of the daily rated / DRWs workers with government looking for regularisation are being quoted as 50000-60000 in J&K since2008 by political leaders when they have seen rallies during elections promising their regularisation if voted to power.
Not only that practice of employing Teachers in schools, Lecturers in colleges, professors in universities / professional colleges against same regular substantive post year after year or session after session on academic arrangement basis / contractual basis / consolidated wage basis much lower than the wages/ salary due for a particular job has nearly become regular custom in J&K where cases could be quoted of repeated appointment and not filling the posts even in some cases for 5-8 or more years by regular recruitment process. A test check on such cases in Jammu University / Government College of Engineering Jammu / Government Medical Colleges would surly substantiate the situation with cases where same person would have been appointed on academic arrangement basis for session after session even for 3 to 4 sessions without advertising post through PSC or timely recruitment through PSC and that too on reduced wage basis.
The practice has not kept only the employed under mental/ social / emotional stresses adversely affecting their dedication / capacity towards performance of assigned job and ofcourse those employed in teaching institutions/ extension services if remain under economic/ unfair social stresses surely remain with reduced initiative to impart training / education and professional motivation to the students in their institution thereby indirectly effecting the future of the students / the targeted beneficiaries. Just for reference Govt College of Engineering in much older than Jammu IIT which otherwise should have been academically & infrastructure wise better than even IIT Jammu but a test review of the status of this college faculty wise & market placement would be worth taking a note. No some may even observe that the system there has benefitted the students less and more those employed there over the years to progress in their status.
To quote in 2011 practice of employing people against regular posts on unduly reduced / humiliating wages was started by NC- Congress Government in J&K( New Recruitment Policy videGovt. Order No 257-F of 2011 dated 27-10-2011- modalities for reduced wages for recruitments against non gazetted posts i.e for first 2 years only 50 % basic pay and next 3 years only 75 % of the basic pay , no allowances / increment with fixed medical allowance of Rs.300/p). With submissions made through media ( not by political leaders) and the 2014 Assembly elections approaching the NC- Congress Government withdrew the policy ( G.O. 156(F) of 2014 dated 27-06-2014 with retrospective effect from 21-05-2014 ) .The correction did not lost long and it was on 30-06-2015 that the PDP-BJP Government also came with J&K Special Recruitment Rules, 2015 vide SRO – 202 but this time also included the option of taking in any Gazetted post where in also employee was to remain on probation for min five years without getting regular annual increment of the grade and allowances like DA/HRA/Child Education Allowance/ Child Hostel Subsidy Allowance/ Transport Allowance / CCA ( except medical allowance of Rs.300/pm). So strangely the then government issued employment orders under SRO 202 vide Order No. 4 7 -HME of2019 Dated: 14 .01-.2019 even for (921) Medical Officers (Gazetted) ServiceLevel-9 (52700-166700) against regular posts including those lying vacant for many years but but no political party ( not even NC/ Congress) worked on ground to plead that the wrong undone earlier should not be repeated.
Submissions were again main through media and civil society and the then UT government under President Rule did grant some relief through S.O 194 of 17-06-2020 ( reducing probation period to 2 years even for already employed ) and in the shape of S.O 192 of 17-06-2020 ( J&K Probationer (Condition of Service, Pay and Allowances) and Fixation of Tenure Rules, 2020 ) reducing the probation period to two years ( ofcourse without allowances/ increments) for both Gazetted and Non gazettedwith right with govt. to exclude any post. But even S.O 192 of 17-06-2021 was implemented in a more irrational, ‘neglectful’, very very unfair, and rather beyond meaningful bureaucratic wisdom by those at the helm of affairs by appointing Medical Officers ( Gazetted Service Level-9, 52700-166700 ) for which only qualified doctors could apply in regular manner under S.O 192 of 17-06-2020 vide G.O No. 938 – JK(HME) of 2020 of 31-12-2020 where a son the other hand employing those for General Gazetted services for which any graduate can apply i.e like Jr JKAS, JKPS, JKAS ( Level 8,Rs. 47600- 15110) vide G.O No:1100 -JK(GAD) of 2020,of 09-12-2020 outside the S.O 192 conditions of service i.e. by not applying ( using rule-9) to them the condition of no increments and no allowances during probation period of min 2 years. It had been mere exploitation even by government of those needing jobs as well as keeping the basic health services deficient both in quality and quantity .
.It was again through the civil society and not the political leadership that unfairness in SRO 192 was brought to the notice of LG Sh Manoj Sinha ( who was also being then addressed as Vikas Purush ) who really sensed the injustice and finally through a press release of Director Of Information & Public Relations that J&K UT the subjects of J&K were informed that Administrative Council had under the chairmanship of LG had decided on 14-08-2022 to scrap S.O 192 of 17-06-2020 allowing all allowances to appointees even during the 2 year probation period.
Had the leaders who have been found in 2024 talking of Unemployment in their run for finding some space in the media been truthfully concerned they should have worked in a regular way atleast for the ‘underemployed youth’ in the past and got undone the unfair practices of continued contractual / repeated academic session related & that too at reduced wage employments in government institutions. Will they go for text check as suggested here in for the ‘premier’ institutions is a question?.
(The writer is Sr Journalist & analyst of J&K affairs)