Prime Minister’s Package is basically aimed at the return as well as rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Kashmir valley and as such these employees being posted there in different parts of Kashmir. Needless to mention, the cardinal factor behind this special employment package for Kashmiri unemployed migrants having, besides offering livelihood to hundreds of these migrant employees, been to ensure the process of their return and rehabilitation in Kashmir valley . However, security concerns are paramount which the Government is bound to look into and ensure at all costs security was provided to and in respect of these employees.
However, of late, not only certain concerns in respect of reviewing the existing security scenario vis-a-vis these Kashmir based employees have surfaced but other pending issues like timely promotions and other benefits that are available in ordinary course to eligible employees on seniority and other related factors, posting of the spouses in the same district preferably in close vicinity, providing Government accommodation and many other related pending demands have genuinely been raised by these employees as those have not been looked into seriously so far by the successive Governments in Jammu and Kashmir. Even if belatedly, the UT Government has , now, taken series of measures and decisions favourable to the package migrant employees which, perhaps, could have not been possible had two of the employees , both from the minority community ,not been very unfortunately killed in cold blood by militants a few days back right in or near their place of work.
Career progression or promotion on seniority is the entitlement of every employee , if not a matter of right, which has been one of the top demands of these employees that has recently been analysed and in order to streamline the process, the UT Administrative Council (AC) has accorded approval to a scheme of promotion of these PM Package Kashmiri migrant employees. Pertinent to mention that the Lieutenant Governor has himself taken the initiative and presided over the said meeting where the decision was taken thus avenues stand now opened for promotion of these employees posted in Kashmir valley .
However, it is to be noted that the promotions are to be made from out of the separate seniority list maintained for these package employees by the respective departments which have appointed them in different parts of Kashmir valley. This seniority list to run parallel to the ”regular” employees and taking effect from the date of appointment against the extra or surplus posts under the PM Package, called in official parlance as supernumerary posts , however, needs more clarification.
Nevertheless, what is construed is that in order to effect promotions, pre-facto surplus posts at higher levels are to be created in order to accommodate the promoted candidates. That , however, making no difference as the crux of the new modified exercise is that the package Kashmiri migrant employees are benefitted and not made to suffer purely on account of the employment package having been announced over and above rather unrelated to usual recruitment process. In this connection , however, equal number of such surplus posts at lower levels or pre-promotion levels shall automatically get reduced so as to effect promotions.
If not more important than the promotions but equally of great import, is the decision to categorise all posts of PM Package as divisional level posts in Kashmir division. That means no package employee can be posted in a remote village or in vulnerable areas in Kashmir valley and not deep inside Kashmir valley as well as was done before. This major decision deserves to be hailed as it addresses security concerns of the employees to a larger extent but still the Government cannot resort to complacency in respect of security concerns merely by posting these Kashmiri employees in district headquarters in Kashmir. What , however, is needed is better monitoring and follow-up in addition to a separate cell created in the Civil secretariat for looking into other problems/issues of these Kashmiri migrant employees working in Kashmir under the PM package.
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