Srinagar, Mar 15: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Wednesday has promoted 25 employees appointed under the Prime Minister’s Employment Package and for which Public Works (R&B) department has released the official order regarding the same.
As per the order issued by Shailendra Kumar, IAS Principal Secretary to Government reads thatregularization of I/c Assistant Engineers (Mechanical) of PW (R&B) department appointed under PM Package.
It states that ‘As recommended by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, DPC sanction is hereby accorded to the regular promotion of 25 I/c Assistant Engineers (Mechanical) of PW (R&B) department appointed under PM Package in the pay scale of 8000-275-12950 (Pre-revised) from the dates shown against each.
“The promotion is subject to the outcome of writ-petition pending if any before competent courts of Law,” reads the order.
Under the PM package, around 6,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees have been hired by the J&K administration and posted in various government departments in Kashmir.
As part of the package, the administration is also constructing transit accommodations for the employees in Kashmir, some of which are already functional.
In July 2022, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha’s administration approved the scheme for the promotion of PM package employees aimed to bid to streamline the career progression of employees. The move was aimed to remove the bottleneck in career progression of employees appointed under the PM package.
Scheme also envisaged maintaining a separate seniority for Kashmiri Migrant employees appointed under the PM package, by respective departments which will run parallel to the seniority of regular employees and will take effect from the date of appointment against the supernumerary posts under the PM Package.
It said all posts under the PM package have been re-designated as divisional-level positions in the Kashmir division. The new structure will provide avenues for in-situ promotion to all PM package employees as per their eligibility and seniority.
The implementation of this promotion scheme was monitored at the highest level to ensure that the eligible employees avail the benefits of the scheme at the earliest.
Pertinently, during the financial year 2008-09, Prime Minister’s Package was rolled out for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Migrants to the Kashmir valley which included various incentives like Housing, Employment, Transit Accommodations etc.
Meanwhile, Ranjan Jotshi, vice-president of All Migrant Displaced Employees Association Kashmir (AMDEAK) told Rising Kashmir that there is nothing special about these promotions and it is a normal process for any employee.
“Our demand is only to safeguard the lives of Kashmiri migrant employees and for which nothing is being done. The administration is trying to divert the attention from KP employees issue who recently returned to their work in Valley,” he said adding that fight for rights will continue in the future also.
