Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Oct 9: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) legislators today walked out of the Legislative Council after alleging that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has failed to honour his commitment of providing jobs to the middle pass youth of the State in State Police.
After Minister of State (MoS) for Home, Nasir Aslam Wani replied to the question of Murtaza Ahmad Khan in the Legislative Council the legislator stood up and wanted an answer with respect to a clarification. Murtaza said that the Chief Minister had made commitment to the public before 2008 Assembly elections that middle pass youth would be given jobs in the Police Department.
“The answer given by the Minister is complete and exhaustive. However, I want to know from him whether the Chief Minister has made commitment that middle pass youth would be adjusted in the Police Department. If that is the case then he has fooled the masses and if not then the minister should say categorically that no such commitment has been made,” said Murtaza.
On this, the MoS Home said that he is not aware about any such commitment, adding that his job is to inform the house about the appointments of SPOs made from January 1, 2009 to the present date. He said he cannot speak on behalf of the Chief Minister in the house and that the member should not insist on the reply in this regard.
Murtaza said that the MoS Home is making an issue out of a small submission and he (the Minister) should not have any hesitation in clearing the air on this issue. He sought for directions or ruling from the Legislative Council Chairman, Amrit Malhotra in this regard, adding that the matter is very important. His plea was rejected by the Legislative Council Chairman, who said that it is not necessary for the minister to come out with the reply on the issue.
As MoS Home did not reply to his query Murtaza along with other PDP legislators, Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Nizam-ud-din Khatana walked out of the house and returned after some time. Some of the legislators of National Conference and Congress took pot shots at Murtaza and said that the legislator is wasting the time of the house more so during the question hour.
In his reply, the, MoS Home said that 812 SPOs have been appointed in the Police Department since 2009. He said six special recruitment drives have been carried out by the Police Department in Poonch and Rajouri districts from 1998-2007, adding that 583 persons were appointed during these recruitment drives.
The MoS Home said that 70 SPOs were appointed in 2009 followed by 226, 352 and 164 appointments made in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He said that highest number of appointments have been made in Kupwara district as 132 persons have been appointed during the last four years. In the Samba district no SPO has been appointed during the period while as one SPO has been appointed in the Kargil district.
Follow our WhatsApp channel