Horticulture Department,
Ministry being run by class 4th official
How
police, CID, Vigilance, SHRC failed before
a blue eyed boy
From Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR,
Nov 25: Believe
it or not: A class 4th employee, who used to run the
Directorate of Horticulture in Jammu & Kashmir in the
National Conference government, is now running the
Ministry of Agriculture and Horticulture in the PDP-led
coalition regime. His merits and qualifications: Brief
tryst with militancy before surrender and backdoor entry
in Government service; unlimited capability to gain
access to high corridors of power with extortion money
and flesh trafficking; and, more significantly, skills to
deflate Thana Police, CID, State
Vigilance Organisation (SVO) and the born toothless State
Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed’s masters of "good governance,
accountability and transparency" must feel ashamed
at the "success story" of Abdul Majeed Dar of
Gangabug, Batmaloo, who was a do-nothing surrendered
militant until recently. In 1998, he managed his
adjustment as a daily wager in the state Horticulture
Department through backdoor though such engagements stood
banned since 1994. Within weeks, he managed to
incorporate his name among the casual labourers supposed
to be regularised after seven years of continuous
engagement. Director Horticulture, Kukoo Wazir,
regularised him as "Helper" in the pay scale of
2550-3200 vide Order No: 252/E of 1998 dated 4-8-1998.
While hundreds of daily
wagers and casual labourers kept running from pillar post
to seek their regularisation in Government service after
having worked for several years, Dar gained unlimited
proximity to Director of Horticulture. Now a class 4th
employee, Dar managed adjustment and appointment of over
25 incumbents whose orders were clandestinely issued by
then Director. They included nine of this blue-eyed
boy’s relatives—two brothers (Bilal Ahmed Dar,
Bashir Ahmed Dar), brother-in-law (Abdur Rasheed), three
cousins (Mohammad Shaban, Abdul Majeed Kachroo, Mohammad
Yaseen) etcetera.
In violation of all
prescribed rules and norms and in brazen misuse of
official position, Kukoo Wazir appointed 121 Class 4th
employees and regularised 14 daily wagers through
backdoor in 1998. Dar played key role in the whole
operation. SVO took cognizance of serious allegations of
corruption and registered case FIR No. 13 and 14 under
section 5(2) Prevention of Corruption Act against Kukoo
Wazir and others. While the SVO investigators had little
time to gather material evidence and prosecute senior
officials like Heads of Departments (HODs), Wazir, like
all VIPS of the tainted lot, reached his superannuation
horourably last month.
SVO sources revealed to EXCELSIOR
that the Investigating Officer failed to assert in
the matter in the wake of "tremendous pressure"
from then Chief Secretary I S Malhi, who, as Financial
Commissioner Agriculture Production, had brazenly
sidelined then incharge Minister, Chowdhary Mohammad
Ramzan, in appointing Wazir as Director of Horticulture.
Still VOK wrote a
number of letters vide Nos 2188/PA-VOK dated 11-5-2002,
4003-4/SSP/VOK dated 22-6-2003, 4574-79/SKL dated
28-7-2003 to Director Horticulture and repeatedly asked
for certain official record. Lastly, SSP Vigilance issued
notice to Wazir under section 94 Cr PC vide No:
5371-SSP-SLK on 5-9-2003. Wazir treated all these
requisitions with contempt and refused to provide any of
the documents until his retirement last month. The FIRs
are gathering dust on the cupboards of Vigilance
Organisation Kashmir (VOK) in Srinagar.
On the other hand, Wazir
added more zeal and zest to his patronage of the
blue-eyed boy during the last one year of the "good
governance Government". With ‘capable’ men
like Majeed Dar behind him, it took him little time to
gain access to the new Ministry of Agriculture and
Horticulture. To begin with, he enjoyed the go-ahead of
the Minister’s son and aide, Manzoor Ahmed Zargar,
for whom men like Majeed Dar were more relevant than his
80-year-old father.
The class 4th employee
became so powerful and unaccountable that he occupied the
Director’s chair in his absence and issued any kind
of orders to the hapless employees of the department.
Anybody, who resisted or raised voice against this goonda
raj faced reprisals—suspension, transfer,
harassment. Dar’s attempts of molestation of female
employees, well inside the Director’s office
chambers, as also his attempts of sending women to his
mentors went unnoticed in all institutions. Just once, he
was shifted to a north Kashmir posting but got back to
the Directorate within a week’s time.
That the employees of
the Department have completely lost faith in the system
has compelling reasons. In the year 2001, Majeed Dar
pounced upon two female officials of his Department and
also passed obscene remarks on some of them near his
office and Raj Bagh Police Station. When the victims
approached Police, Dar was picked up, detained and
released shortly. Case FIR No: 97/2001 under section 294
RPC was registered against Dar. The case was established
"prima facie" but only to be brushed under the
carpet.
Disappointed with Police
handling in the matter, female employees of the
Department approached SHRC. Then Chairman of the SHRC,
Justice rtd A Q Parray, sought a report about the facts
of the petition separately from IGP Kashmir Zone and
Additional DG CID.
In his reply, IGP Kashmir
confirmed that the criminal case against Majeed Dar had
been established. "He was arrested in the case and
investigation closed as Challan against the said accused.
The case is pending production before Court of Law",
IGP Kashmir wrote to the Secretary SHRC on 28-7-2001.
Read the report of Additional DG CID dated 10-8-2001
addressed to Secretary SHRC: "Enquiries have
corroborated the allegations against Abdul Majeed Dar and
Meraj-ud-din S/o Syed Mohammad Yaseen R/o Daharmuna,
Soibug, Budgam. The two are known to harass female
employees, besides indulging in eve-teasing".
Chairman of the SHRC
desired "departmental action" against the duo
and an information to the Commission "as and when
the Court case is decided". "The grievances,
which were projected by the female employees in
particular and by the Horticulture Department in general,
seem to have been heard and properly dealt with",
Kuchhai observed in his judgement, to the ultimate
disappointment of the petitioners.
"With the change of
regime, we were hopeful that the cult of administrative
vandalism in our Department will go for ever. It was
simply reinforced", lamented a gazetted officer of
the Department. He revealed how miraculously Majeed Dar
became a member of the Minister incharge Abdul Aziz
Zargar’s home and office.
The "departmental
action" desired by the SHRC followed with an irony.
On instance of the Minister’s son and PRO, Director
Horticulture promoted "Helper" Majeed Dar as
"Cleaner" in the pay scale of 2610-3540 vide
Order No: Adm/NG/3649-50 dated 30-6-2003. Again, the
out-of-turn promotion was granted to Dar with sheer
contempt to the Department’s seniority list and
norms. It remains to be known what Majeed Dar had done as
"Helper" for his high-profile promoters and
what he was going to "clean" for them.
Directorate and the
Ministry of Horticulture seemed to be pretty satisfied
with Majeed Dar’s "excellent performance"
as "Helper" and "Cleaner". He was
directly inducted into the Minister’s staff and
given the honour of driving his official car, which,
otherwise was the responsibility of the State Motor
Garages and Security Wing of J&K Police. He is now
literally calling the shots in the Ministry at Jammu.
Directorate of
Horticulture, Kukoo Wazir, and the Minister’s
Personal Section mooted a proposal of yet another
out-of-turn promotion in favour of this blue-eyed boy.
Days before his retirement, Wazir initiated the process
with his letter No: PS/81 dated 17-10-2003 under the
subject: "Approval for grant of out of turn
promotion to Sh Abdul Majeed Dar as Driver in the pay
scale of 4000-6000. According to informed sources, this
out-of-turn, backdoor promotion has also been granted but
the Order has been withheld in the wake of Wazir’s
retirement and appointment of a new Director.
While as nobody responded
to phone calls at the Minister’s residence and
office, new Director of Horticulture, A K Saini,
confirmed to EXCELSIOR that two out-of-turn promotions
have since been granted to Majeed Dar. He said that
Special Secretary, Agriculture Production, Mr G R Gani,
has already taken cognizance of grievances and complaints
against the illegal process and, after an inquiry, he has
recommended Dar’s demotion as "Helper". He
asserted that he would be having no hesitation in
restoring actual status to the official.
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