Early Times Report
Jammu, May 1: Throwing seniority list into bin, the Horticulture department has selectively chosen some blue-eyed junior officers, appointed them at district level posts while senior officers in the list have been made subordinate.
The whole scenario has been created by the promotion of junior level officers on look-after capacity, bypassing the seniors in sheer violation of rules/SRO and overthrowing the criteria.
According to the seniority list released vide Govt. Order No. 60- Horti of 2018, dated 17/4/2018, the officers at the top of the list have not been left behind while some have been chosen for district level posts.
The gazetted cadre officers joined the department as Horticulture Development officers and their next promotion is to become District Horticulture officer, District Level Subject Matter Specialist or MCC and their next promotion is to the level of Chief Horticulture Officer.
In the list of over 75 officers, the officer at serial number 1, 3, 4, 5, 6,7,8 have still working as HDO. It is still unknown under what criteria, department dropped senior officer in the list and picked serial number 9, 27, 44, 45, 47, 49, 50, 61, 71, 73 and promoted them to the level of District Level Officers while the remaining officers in the seniority list have been deliberately ignored by the department.
"We are forced to work under our juniors and made to listen their dictates as department has made them our officers", an official said, adding that senior level officers were subjected to acute humiliation at the hands of junior officers.
They further said that some of these junior level officers had joined the department as simple graduates and when they had gone to pursue M.Sc they had given an affidavit and it was mentioned in the order that they would not claim any promotion as per the degree. "But despite giving in writing, they were earlier sent to pursue higher studies and then promoted ahead of seniors, who had joined the department with M.Sc as degrees", another official said, alleging that the junior level officers were bound to discharge every assigned work in field in favour of undeserving beneficiaries having no orchard at the cost of genuine farmer. They said their first preference was to purchase poor quality plants.
"The department has failed to conduct DPC for the last over one and half decade and have been promoting officers on the basis of look-after capacity. Many officers knock the Court's door but department always gave lame reply of in the process of conducting DPC but failed to do same", the officials said, and appealed the Governor administration to push the administration to hold DPC without any further delay. |
