STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Lambasting the recommendations finalised by the Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) comprising six cabinet rank ministers, for review of the proposed ‘New Recruitment Policy’, Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister has described the exercise as a cosmetic whitewash with no serious endeavour on the part of said committee to address the genuine concerns of the unemployed youth and students. He pointed out that the new recruitment policy having been rejected by the youth and civil society and the relevant ordinance on the subject having been returned by the Governor, the state government had assured to revisit the said policy so as to dispel the apprehensions and to accommodate the concerns of the educated youth. He however regretted that the CSC consisting of 6 tyro Ministers, three each from BJP and PDP failed to do justice to their job and finalised its report for preparation of final draft by GAD and law Department without making any significant changes in the previous policy. Accusing the CSC for indulging in superficial patch work in the name of re-drafting policy under the compulsion posed by massive student outrage, Singh said that there was no serious effort on the part of ministers concerned to meet the aspirations of the youth. Terming the proposed changes in the Recruitment Policy an eye wash and mere window dressing, he pointed out that the CSC has merely reduced the period of contractual / adhoc service from 7 years to 5 years for the purpose of regularisation and inclusion of one member each from PSC and SSB for such recruitments at district level for gazetted and non gazetted level posts respectively.
Ridiculing the CSC report’s recommendation that the new recruitment policy would be applicable only for filling the vacancies of immediate nature and that the normal appointments would be made through the prescribed agencies viz PSC and SSB, he questioned the criteria for the aforesaid categorization. How could the government classify the available government positions in the state into two categories namely ‘immediate nature’ and ‘normal nature’ for the purpose of recruitment and follow two different set of norms for the purpose of recruitments to identical positions? He said that such a practice would be highly irregular and preposterous besides being unconstitutional as incumbents holding same government positions and doing identical jobs would be drawing different amounts of remuneration depending upon the mode of their recruitment. He further deplored the CSC’s recommendation to provide abysmally inadequate remuneration to the adhoc / contractual employees during the first five years and its endorsement of the earlier proposition of regularising the said employees only upon the issuance of satisfactory performance certificate by the senior officers.
Admonishing the endorsement of the basic substance and structure of the already rejected recruitment policy by CSC, Singh sought the withdrawal of the said policy.
