Jammu and Kashmir govt constitutes committee to examine controversial job policy

With unemployed youth aghast over the previous PDP-BJP government’s job policy under SRO-202, Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted a committee to examine the controversial policy.

The committee has been constituted as there is a growing demand for revocation of the SRO- 202. Under the banner of All J&K SRO-202 Employees, hundreds of youth are holding regular protests across the union territory (UT), demanding rollback of the ordinance, which was introduced by the PDP-BJP government that ruled the erstwhile state for over three years.

The committee constituted by the General Administration Department (GAD) will examine various issues related to the Jammu and Kashmir Special Recruitment Rules, 2015. The committee to be headed by chief secretary BVR Subramanyam would also examine the implications of the SRO-202 on the job structure in government as well as financial implications, an official said.

Sources said that the committee has also been mandated to suggest a comprehensive approach as necessary. The new job policy, also known as SRO-202, has come under criticism from different quarters since it’s unveiling in 2015.

Under the policy, a candidate selected for a government service will get only basic pay for the first five years of his or her service. They will be devoid of their right of getting different allowances during this period. Also, they will not be entitled to the New Pension Scheme (NPS) benefits for the timeframe.

While welcoming the formation of a new committee to examine the policy, job aspirants in the UT hoped that the process would be completed within the shortest possible time. “Only non-gazetted cadre posts were filled under the policy which shows its unequal behaviour, absurdness and nonsensicalness. The irony is that under the previous regimes in Kashmir rich became richer and the poor poorer,” said Shahid Ahmad, a post-graduate unemployed youth.

He said as the policy was unveiled, at the same time, the MLAs doubled their salary. “Leaving the educated youth in trouble for their sake is no less than turmoil. When the candidates would frequently appeal the government to scrap the policy, they would utterly eulogize that it was meant to curb the financial crunch in J&K,” Ahmad added.

Recently J&K Law commission stated that the probation period of five years appears to be disproportionate, supernatural, plethoric and limitless. Mincing no words in castigating the previous regime for devising the policy, the Commission stated: “The ruling elite of the erstwhile state of J&K lived a life which even 'the Vikramaditiyas 'and 'the Mughals 'would not have dreamt of.