Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 5: Following the intervention of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, the State Cabinet today stalled the move of the Forest Department to transfer 170 posts of Forest Protection Force (FPF) guards from the districts of Jammu division to the Kashmir division for adjustment of the Watchers.
Sources told EXCELSIOR that when the proposal regarding down-grading of 682 posts of the Forest Protection Force (FPF) Guards for adjustment of Watchers was taken up for discussion in the Cabinet meeting, Congress Ministers particularly Minister for Revenue, Raman Bhalla, Minister for Health and Floriculture, Sham Lal Sharma and Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Taj Mohi-ud-Din objected to that part of the memorandum wherein the Forest Department was contemplating to transfer 170 posts of Forest Protection Force Guards from districts of Jammu division to the districts of Kashmir division for adjustment of Watchers.
“Such a move will not be taken in good spirit by the people of Jammu region and this would provide another ground to the Opposition parties to launch uncalled for tirade against the Coalition Government”, sources said quoting the Congress Ministers having stated in the Cabinet, adding the Congress Ministers stressed that Forest Department should find out an alternative for the adjustment of Watchers instead of transferring posts.
Intervening the Congress Ministers, Chief Minister remarked, “I will not endorse any proposal which will create heartburning among the people of any region”, adding “I want to take all the regions together and such proposals doesn’t suit Government’s policy of equal treatment to all parts of the State”.
While directing the Forest Department to find out an alternative for adjustment of Watchers, the Chief Minister cleared the proposal for down-gradation of 682 posts of Forest Protection Force Guards but with the deletion of transfer of posts clause, sources informed.
When contacted, Minister for Health and Floriculture, Sham Lal Sharma said, “we told the Cabinet that transfer of posts from one region to another will set a wrong precedence and create wide spread resentment among the people”, adding “we even objected to the down-grading of the posts as the same will demoralize the Forest Protection Force Guards”.
“I also pointed out that even in the creation of 1100 posts of Assistant Professors in the Degree Colleges, there was no equal distribution of posts between the regions”, the Health Minister said.
The proposal for transfer of posts was mooted by the Forest Department on the ground that number of Watchers engaged in the districts of Kashmir Division are more in number that those in the districts of Jammu division.
This proposal was stipulated with the condition that the posts of Watchers so transferred and down-graded will get restored to the concerned districts of Jammu division on first come first accrual basis-as soon as a post becomes available in any district of Kashmir division due to retirement, promotion or otherwise of any of these Watchers/Class-IV employees, the same will get restored to the districts of Jammu division and no appointments against the vacated posts will be made in the districts of Kashmir division.
However, there was no taker of this condition among the Congress Ministers, who vehemently opposed this part of the proposal.
Sources said that Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Raman Bhalla, also raised the issue of power crisis in Kashmiri Pandit migrants township at Jagti and strongly demanded that power supply equivalent to the schedule being implemented in the non-metered areas should be made available to the township to minimize the grievances of the migrants.
“At least on humanitarian grounds some decision has to be taken by the Government in this regard”, sources said quoting the Minister.
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