Govt fails to provide 6000 jobs under PM package in 12 years

Callousness of recruitment agencies

Avtar Bhat

JAMMU, Mar 1: Though announced way back in 2008 with much drum beating and fanfare, the Government in last 12 years failed to implement Prime Minister’s Employment Package for displaced Kashmiri Pandit youth in letter and spirit.
The then Union Government led by Dr Manmohan Singh had announced a package of 6000 jobs for displaced Pandit youth from Valley during a rally at Akhnoor in May 2008 under which 3000 posts were to be sponsored by the Union Government and rest 3000 by the J&K Government. The process was put in motion and the first list of candidates appointed under package was published in 2010 under Central sponsored component. However, the process of recruitment was delayed under the first phase too for a decade due to lack of will on the part of successive J&K and Central Governments and bureaucratic lacunas, sources said.
Sources said during last over one decade since the announcement of package, majority of youth turned overage and they could not take the benefit of the same as the successive Governments in the erstwhile J&K State showed no interest in implementation of the package in letter and spirit for reasons best known to them.
Sources said though both Central and State Governments were in an agreement that for first 3000 jobs the Centre will bear entire funding and for rest 3000 jobs the State will bear it out of its own resources but later State backtracked from the same and through a Cabinet decision in 2014 the State Government led by Omar Abdullah decided to approach Central Government to provide funding for rest 3000 posts also which were kept in limbo by then.
Sources said the Centre, however, agreed to provide funding for the remaining 3000 jobs but the process remained dull as no advertisement for them was issued, sources, said adding that after the installation of Narendra Modi Government in 2014 at Delhi the process was restarted with the new Union Government showing keenness in recruitment process of displaced youth under PM package and notifications for various posts were issued.
But much to the chagrin of displaced youth that the advertisements were issued under various notifications in 2017 for about 1450 posts and written tests and interviews were conducted for the same but the orders for about 1000 selected candidates were issued while the 450 aspirants for the posts of Junior Assistants in various departments have been left to bite the dust as appointment orders in their favour were not issued despite the lapse of three years.
Moreover, the notification for recruitment of more than 14,00 posts under various categories are to be issued out of remaining 3000 posts, sources added.
Sources said the aspirants of Government jobs under package especially 450 Junior Assistants who had applied vide advertisement notification number 4 of 2017 issued Services Selection Board and five Technicians whose interviews were also conducted in the same year are running from pillar to post for issuance of appointment orders but to no avail.
Even some youth are at the verge of overage and constant delay in releasing the list has added to their agony, said one of the aspirants for the Junior Assistant post. He added it is a very disturbing phenomenon that three years have now passed since the aspirants have applied for these posts but till date the selection lists have not been released by SSB which indicated the biased approach of the Recruitment agency towards the PM package candidates.
He said even some youth are demanding that leftover candidates in various notifications be also adjusted under the package as they have now turned over aged and their future has been already marred by pangs of turmoil.
Taking a dig at the authorities, he said the previous State Governments and some bureaucrats at Civil Secretariat level were not interested in the implementation of the package and this was the reason that it has been delayed since 2008 constantly on one or the other pretext.
He said the non serious and dubious attitude of the SSB has left all these aspirants in deep despair and agony and they see no end to their plight as no body at the helm of affairs showed seriousness to provide relief to them.
Sources said such attitude has generated a lot of resentment among the displaced people from Valley who term the package a cruel joke with the community. Kashmiri Pandits -the victims of turmoil leading an exiled life outside the Valley for last three decades while questioning the package said what benefit the community can draw from it when the Government failed to implement the 6000 job package in 12 years. “This way we have lost all faith in the Government as the community has a bitter experience of last three decades’’, said another aspirant of PM package.
When contacted Chairman SSB, Jahangir Rashid said that issue will be sorted out soon. He said the advertisements were issued under various notifications and some of the aspirants say that combined lists be framed while others say that the separate lists should be issued.
“There is confusion among the candidates in themselves. But the Government is now trying to resolve the issue and list will be issued soon,” he said, adding the issue has been taken up with the higher ups in the Government also and soon a decision will be taken in this regard.

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