Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Feb 19: The State Government has set into motion the move for expansion of Jammu Kashmir Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for ensuring speedy disposal of the cases and facilitate introduction of some latest tests such as DNA profiling, voice and audio-visual identification etc.
The State Home Department has asked the FSL authorities to work out the modalities and submit a comprehensive detail of additional requirements and positions involving financial implications for the expansion project, authoritative sources informed the Excelsior.
The major aspect of the expansion move is creation of 99 new posts of officers and officials, who include six positions of Deputy Director, 12 Scientific Officers, 12 Assistant Scientific Officers and 24 Lab Assistants, sources added.
The State Home Ministry is learned to have sought details of the financial implications for the proposed expansion in response to some queries of the Finance Department over the move, initiated by the Government. A formal proposal for the expansion and augmentation of the staff was submitted by the FSL Director Inayat Ullah a few months back.
According to sources, the augmentation of staff was particularly necessitated keeping in view the manifold increase in load of the work on FSL, which has been under staffed for the several years.
Even as the number of cases for forensic investigation increased more than 20 times during the past few years, there was no augmentation of the staff ever since the FSL came into existence in 1983.
A unit of Jammu Kashmir Police, the FSL is headed by a Director of the rank of IGP. There are nine positions of Deputy Director, 12 Scientific Officers, 32 Assistant Scientific Officers, 10 Photographers, Lab Assistants and Attendants in the FSL set up.
Owing to increased load and less man power, the number of pending cases had increased to more than 3000 forcing the Director to order overtime working and issue strict instructions for no first choice to any case without a formal request for the same by Zonal IGP.
The efforts yielded results to a great extent and the number of pending cases has now reduced to less than 500, sources informed.
The expansion of FSL with augmentation of staff will not only ease out the workload and avoid pendency of cases but also facilitate the introduction of DNA profiling, voice and audio-visual identification tests here for which the J&K Police so far depends on the Forensic laboratories outside the State.
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