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| The many flaws of ' NEW RECRUITMENT POLICY' | | | Wasim Khanday | 4/8/2014 10:59:35 PM |
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Instead of providing rightful opportunities, the new recruitment policy is proving to be a nightmare for the talented but unemployed youth of the state
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is ready to appoint a fresh chunk of non gazetted employees for which screening, skill tests, interviews are in full swing these days. Almost a year has passed when the state's premier Services Selection Board advertized many posts for various departments under advertisement no 3 of 2012. Till now the board has advertized a total of 19889 posts. All these selectees will be appointed under controversial " new recruitment policy", which has been adopted by the J& K Government by its cabinet decision no 193/ 231- 2011 Dated 19.10.2011.
What is new recruitment policy in J&K ?
Under the " new recruitment policy" a fresh non gazetted employee will be paid salary in a fixed mode which ranges from Rs 3850 to 10,460 for first five years, which includes 50 percent of basic pay for first two years and 75 percent of basic pay for next three years. Pension is not applicable under this policy. Whereas there are three pay scales mostly for non gazetted in the state which ranges from Rs 4440- 7440( PB 1S) for class IV with a grade pay of Rs.1300, 1400,1650 Rs. 5200- 20200 ( PB- 1) with grades 1800, 1900, 2100, 2300, 2400, 2800 for technical and junior staff which includes ( Junior Assistants, Accounts Assistants, Drivers and Technicians) and the premier one Rs 9300- 34800( PB- 2) with grades 4200, 4300, 4400, 4600, 4800, 5400 with allowances as applicable. But according to the policy No allowances are payable. The rules cover the Class III and IV non- gazetted posts in the state government.
Why was this policy implemented ? The fact is that 46 percent of the state budget is spent on the salaries and pensions of the state government employees, which includes the major part of state budget. J& K is already dependent on central funds and is economically backward and not in a position to take the burden of more recruitment into state government departments on its head. But the mushrooming growth of unemployed youth is another worry of the government. In order to increase employment and to eliminate " Staff deficiency syndrome" in its departments, government came up with the " new recruitment policy" for which over four lakh youth appeared for various examinations across the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The main reason behind this policy is to push youth towards entrepreneurship and private sector outside J& K and discourage them from joining government services for which schemes like UDAAN were introduced later. BOPEE scam accused Mushtaq Ahmad Peer, who was appointed as Chief Consultant by the J& K Government for fast track recruitments and framing of new recruitment policy scheme, was the chief architect of this policy.
Victims of new recruitment policy:
The main victims of this policy are youth, particularly the highly qualified and deserving unemployed youth of the state. After years of hard work and attempt to develop competitive aptitude for various positions in State Government, the cream of state is being overlooked. Although the Government cannot accommodate all of them in civil services but the talented majority seems in a state of deep chaos and confusion. The only way left for them is to work in elite private sector outside of J& K or to work abroad. This talented youth includes engineers, management graduates, technicians, teachers and nurses. In nutshell the deserving meritorious educated class, who deserve positions in the government, is being discriminated as the salary of deserving and meritorious candidate will now be distributed among five persons appointed for the same position. Anti- youth side of policy: The New recruitment policy breaches the established Constitutional principle of ' equal wages for equal work' under Article 14 and 15( 1) of the Constitution. Further, the Table of fixed salaries issued by the state government reveals that the new recruits under the first two pay bands shall be paid less than even the Minimum Wages notified by the government itself.
This clearly violates the Minimum wages Act and also Article 41 ( Right to Work) and 43 ( Living Wages with decent standard of life, leisure and social and cultural opportunities) read in conjunction with Article 21 ( Right to Life with dignity). Since the implementation of this policy widespread criticism and protests were witnessed from different corners of the state. Fresh graduates, scholars and social activists who are the major stakeholders were seen protesting from Jammu to Leh, including leading political figures and organizations supporting this cause. Not only state youth, main political parties like PDP, BJP, National Panthers party also opposed the decision.
Brain drain concern:
The major thing to worry about this policy is not the matter of regular pay bands and pension and not the inefficiency in government departments but the misplaced and loss of technical and intellectual capital. A lot of brain drain is going to happen as majority of the talented youth will prefer to work outside J& K as they cannot compromise with their dignity, esteem and self- respect. They will prefer to work in other states of India but cannot tolerate the shame of getting " peanuts" for their hard earned skills and knowledge. Impact on society:
By implementing this policy the government is ignoring the high inflation graph and by giving " peanuts" as monthly salary it will be extremely difficult for fresh recruits to fulfill their daily needs. Their families cannot sustain on this amount and cannot live a life with dignity and honor.
The most worrying thing for those who will be appointed under divisional and state cadres is managing travel and rent charges as they can be deputed in any part of the state. In society like ours, by getting " peanuts" most of which will be spent on travel and rent for first five years, it will be difficult for these recruits to get married ultimately resulting in late marriages which is another social concern.
Impact on education:
The anti- education side of this policy is quite visible as it clearly discourages first class post graduates, gold medalists and merit holders to join the education services. This will have serious impact on the quality of education in government schools. Around 280 government schools registered zero percent to five percent results in 2013 even when teachers were working on regular grades and allowances. With the implementation of new recruitment policy things have gone even worse with the teachers, who will receive fixed salary below Rs 4000, being experimented with basic qualification of 10+ 2.
This is a shock for those who possess higher qualification and will jeopardize the future of upcoming generation. The lower middle class of the state, who doesn't have any financial resources or established business to cater to their needs and spend their life by earning hand to mouth, suffer when it comes to providing quality education to their children. Rampant corruption:
Corruption, which is the major concern of government and a major cause of inefficient delivery of public services and execution of public works, will touch new heights as the fresh recruits may attempt to earn through illegal means and the system of " Chai" ( Bribe) may get replaced with " Coffee" and " Kong Kehwa". They are vulnerable to get involved with crooks and tricksters and will misuse their official position for monetary gains. During a protest against revocation of new recruitment policy, the youth shouted a slogan outside Jammu University gate: " revoke the policy or make the bribe legal", which clearly indicates serious consequences of its implementation for which state in general and poor public in particular is going to suffer the most. Conclusion: " If the NC- led coalition government wants to cut down on the state budget, it should start by first cutting down the salaries and allowances drawn by the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues". In March last year, the state assembly had passed a bill to nearly double the salaries of the MLAs, MLCs and ministers. The enhanced salaries of the MLAs and MLCs are Rs. 80300 per month; while the ministers now get Rs 85, 000 per month. The Speaker and the chief minister now draw 90,000 per month. On one side the legislators demand hike in pension and salary when the ministers draw more than Rs 85,000 pm from the Government's Coffers and on the other side they are crushing the confidence of youth by offering them bondage labour. If state government is serious enough to cut costs in the state, which is reeling under heavy financial burden, then why this discrimination with non- gazetted employees? The question remains why same rules have not been imposed on the elite gazetted class, civil servants and law makers of this rigid state?
( Wasim Khanday is an M Sc in Information Technology from University of Kashmir) EMPLOYMENT WASIM KHANDAY wasimkhanday@ yahoo. co. in |
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