Srinagar, Feb 02: Fire fighters in the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) Department are facing a tough time as they have been awaiting long-overdue Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) that have not been conducted in more than a decade.
It has been revealed that the lack of promotions has left many fire stations without adequate leadership or sufficient staff, raising concerns about the department’s ability to effectively respond to emergencies.
Fire fighters within the department expressed their distress over the absence of career progression opportunities, with no promotions granted for the past ten years. They claim that higher officials have ignored their pleas, turning a blind eye to the issue and causing immense frustration among the workforce.
Departmental sources revealed that nearly 200 leading firemen have completed mandatory fire-fighting courses in Nagpur, making them eligible for the position of Sub Officers. However, despite the presence of vacant positions and an increasing number of trained firefighters each year, their promotions have been indefinitely delayed.
The situation is dire across the Union territory. The three major districts of North Kashmir and three districts of South Kashmir are being run by a single Assistant Director while each district should have been led by one Assistant Director.
In an ideal setup, each district headquarter station should have an Assistant Director, followed by a Divisional Fire Officer, Station Officer, Sub Officers, and other supporting staff. However, even the Headquarters lacks a Sub Officer.
One fire-fighter, eligible for promotion to the Sub Officer position, laments waiting for over a decade to move up the ranks.
These stations are currently managed by either selection grade fire-fighters or Hawaldars, both of whom lack the qualifications to serve as station in-charges.
According to regulations, a Sub Officer should assume this role, but due to a lack of promotions, qualified candidates are left waiting, while lower-ranking officers run the stations.
The firemen of the 2010 batch are eligible to be promoted as Selection Grade in 2020 but even after three years they are waiting for getting promoted.
The Selection Grade Firemen of 1998 batch are waiting from the past more than one decade to become a Hawaldar but they are still working as Selection grade officials.
The Hawaldars 1991 batch should have been sub officers ten years ago but they are still working as Hawaldars when they should have been Divisional Fire Officers.
At-least 300 employees including Firemen and Selection grade firemen were asked to sit in exams for promotion to next level in vide order no DF&ES/Estt/DPC/01/2021-02-CC-61393 dated 29th December 2021 and results are still awaited even after about three years.
Surprisingly in the entire North Kashmir and Ganderbal, there is only one station officer (Inspector) who is yet not confirmed as he is working as ‘in-charge’ and not confirmed yet.
The prolonged absence of promotions and the resulting staffing crisis within the Fire Services Department are raising concerns about the department’s ability to ensure public safety and respond effectively to fire emergencies.
The employees said that the severe crisis in career progression has taken a toll on the mental health of the employees. “Even our children taunt us for stagnation as we retire in the same grade where we were recruited,” they added.
“We fail to understand that if there are posts available in the department, why are we not being promoted? We are being punished for unknown reasons?“ they added.
The aggrieved employees have appealed to the Lieutenant Governor to personally look into the matter and review the functioning of the department so that their issues are resolved. “We are sure once the Lieutenant Governor takes stock of the situation, our issue will be resolved,” they said.
Meanwhile when contacted Director General Fire & Emergency Services J&K, he was not available for comments.
