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| Notwithstanding public anger, extension, re-appointment continues unabated | | | Bashir Assad
srinagar, July 18: While the huge armies of unemployed youth continues to swell with the numbers crossing six lakh mark, the State Government's re-employment policy for 'favourite' civil servants continues unabated despite severe criticism by civil society and media. "Rehabilitation policy" for retired officials is absolutely a private affair of the public representatives.
This is, interestingly, notwithstanding a clear-cut Cabinet order of 2007 which says that "re-employment of a retired Government servant shall be for a maximum of one year"-something invisible on ground.
Official figures with Early Times suggest that Omar Abdullah led coalition Government is continuing with the practice of picking up its "favourite and influential" officials for re-engagement, extensions or re-employment. The phenomenon, which has drawn severe flak from civil society and political circles, is widespread in different departments and Government-constituted commissions and other statutory bodies.
In brazen violation of its own decisions taken from time to time, extension, re-appointment and re-engagement of retired blue eyed bureaucrats and officials close to the power corridors and in some cases extension or re-appointment is for two years or more as against the very spirit of the Government order of 2007 which states that extension or re-employment should be for a maximum period of one year.
Latest entries to this long list of re-appointment are that of Ghulam Hassan Shah, ex- Director Horticulture, Muhammad Sarvar Naqash, ex- Director Floriculture Kashmir and GA Dar ex- Chief Engineer PHE Kashmir. The Rural Development Department very recently issued an order appointing GH Shah chairman Integrated Watershed Management Program (IWMP), Naqash and Dar as Technical Advisors IWMP.
Sources said that the trio are roaming in Civil Secretariat like Romeos all the day.
On the other hand what can be termed as shocking that about half a dozen OSDs and consultants and an equal number of Private Secretaries continue to hold their offices even after the expiry of their term of extension. And no body dares to speak about this illegal and unlawfull occupation of offices by these retired officials for they enjoy patronage of one or the other Cabinet Minister. Ministers, both of Cabinet and State rank, are no different when it comes to the re-employment policy. Many of them have been re-engaging retired officials on positions as Private Secretaries, Officers on Special Duty (OSD) and Special Assistants. A Private Secretary to Minister for Health and Horticulture, an OSD to Minister for Industries and another OSD and Private Secretary to Agriculture Minister and then a Special Assistant to CAPD Minister are a few examples
This, according to observers, doesn't go well with the State's rising graph of unemployment, with a latest survey revealing that the State has more than 5.97 lakh unemployed youth registered. Even the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been repeatedly saying that any move to raise the retirement age of employees from the present 58 to 60 years will severely hurt the interests of the educated unemployed.
Notwithstanding this unemployment crisis, which the Government has miserably failed to address, at least 92 officials have been granted extension in service or re-engaged since 2007 after their retirement, most of them quietly.
The J&K Government, pertinently, has come under severe criticism for re-employing its "favourite officers" in the PSC, which has recently come under fire for "becoming a hub of corruption. " In July last year, Member Parliament, Madan Lal Sharma openly demanded re-organization of the PSC, alleging that the Commission had become a "den of nepotism where merit is ignored and where influential people are obliged." The major embarrassment for the PSC came last month when two candidates made it to the prestigious civil services after getting their papers rechecked and improving their score by 100 points each.
It is often believed that the members are selected by the State Government "on the basis of their affiliation with politicians in a ruling party rather than on the basis of their merit and integrity."
Senior Government officials admit that no fixed criteria, based on merit and contribution to State, is followed for re-engaging people. "In the name of extension in services/re-employment future prospects of in-service officials are being hampered and job opportunities for the unemployed youth blocked," says a senior Government officer, on the conditions not to be named. "The 2007 Cabinet order has been very brazenly flouted. On the one hand, Government is crying hoarse over unemployment, but on the other, officials are reemployed every now and then."
Officials say the trend to re-employ officials leads to corruption. "There is a clout that these officials happen to have formed around their offices. This is, in one way or the other, leading to instances of corruption and favouritism, which needs to be discouraged for better governance," said the official. "The Government must give chance to new officials to assume key positions which have been occupied by retired officers. That is the way to remove deadwood and rejuvenate administration." |
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