| Jammu based gazetted officers allege discrimination in promotions | | Seniority list ignored, 2 officers from Kashmir promoted | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 30: The Jammu based gazetted officers of the Department of Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare (AP&FW) have alleged discrimination in promotions to the level of Chief Agriculture Officers or equivalent.
They have alleged that seniority of Jammu based officers was ignored and the officers from Kashmir division were given priority.
The 1998 directly recruited gazetted Agriculture officers have give representation to the Lieutenant Governor claiming that the preference has been given to the non-gazetted officers, who were not even eligible for the posts.
Speaking to Early Times, the officers said that in the seniority list of 1998 batch officers, out of first fifteen officials, only four are from Kashmir division while 11 are from Jammu division.
“Surprisingly all the officers in the seniority list, who are from Jammu division have been bypassed while two officials in the same list, who fall at serial number 2 and 11 have been preferred,” they added. They further alleged that the selective approach of the department to ignore Jammu based officers, while preferring only Kashmir based officers has created resentment among them. “Out of first 10 officers in the list only one is from Kashmir division but none of the officers is from Jammu division”, they said, adding that though fifteen posts of Chief Agriculture Officers (CAOs) or equivalents were vacant across J&K but due to some unknown reasons, department is not promoting the Jammu based officers.
The fifteen vacant posts are Chief Agriculture officer Budgam, Dy. Director Law Enforcement Kashmir, Dy. Director Command Area Development Kashmir, Pathologist Kashmir, Agrostologist Kashmir, Director Rakhs and Farms Kashmir, Floriculture Development Officer Kashmir, Divisional Soil Survey Officer Kashmir, Mushroom Specialist Kashmir, Senior Scientist Mushroom Kashmir while in Jammu division five vacant posts are Divisional Soil Survey Officer Jammu, Regional SMS Jammu, Agriculture Chemist Jammu, Agriculture Economist Jammu and Project Officer Dryland Jammu.
The officials further said all these posts are gazetted posts, while criteria for filling of these posts vide govt order No.180 Agri of 2017 dated 18/7/2017 which reads, "Class VII is the Foundation stone of Gazetted Service and in case, any officer who is not a member of Gazetted Service, he is not entitled to hold the higher posts in gazetted service"
At present the officers of 1998 batch are the eligible candidate to man these posts while some promoted officials of non-gazetted cadre have been trying their best to grab these posts. “Some of non-gazetted officials (promotees) have been placed in stop gap arrangement as I/c AEOs. They have been given the benefit of time bound promotion,” they said.
The Jammu based officials alleged a deliberate attempt is being made to keep Jammu based eligible officers away from the vacant posts.
The officials have sought the intervention of Lieutenant Governor as well as Chief Secretary in the matter to stop the alleged discrimination with them. |
|
