Promotion/DPC of Agri technocrats need of hour: JKATA

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 11: Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Technocrats Association (JKATA) today demanded the Government to conduct promotion of Assistant Extension Assistants (AEAs) to Junior Agricultural Extension Officers (JAEOs).
The demand was raised during a monthly meeting of JAKATA held today at Exhibition Ground, Jammu. The meeting was presided over by JAKATA president Dr Surinder Radotra and several burning issues were discussed during the meeting. Besides deliberating on the need of promotion of AEAs to JAEOs and regularizing incharge JAEO as confirmed JAEO (both regions), the participants demanded restoration of old pension schemes for its cadre.
The members said that J&K Government scrapped old pension scheme on 1 January 2010, but agriculture technocrats joined Agriculture Department as Rehber e Ziraat on Ist April 2007 after State Cabinet approval and thus, the new pension scheme doesn’t provide the guarantee of minimum pension on the last basic salary drawn by the employee and it has failed to deliver the perceived benefits.
While addressing the gathering Dr Surinder Radotra President said that on account of the fact that regularized AEAs were initially recruited in the year 2007 and completed 3 years of their service in the year 2010, they are entitled for grant of Pension under the Old Pension Scheme in terms of provisions of amended SRO-400 dated 24-12-2009. He said similar benefits were given to the teachers recruited under the ‘Rehbar-e-Taleem’ Scheme.
Further it was strongly demanded to include period of seven years of REZ as period of regular service on the analogy of ReTs, (Rehbar-e-Taleem) who have already been benefited. It was further requested that a common seniority list at UT Level, as per regularized/date of confirmation as a AEA 2014, 2015, 2016, may be prepared and notified in a time bound manner for the purposes of promoting JAEOs to the post of AEOs.