Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 23: Appointed over 2 years ago, 38 Class IV employees of Jal Shakti Department in north Kashmir’s Baramulla are without salaries with officials giving out the reason of ‘some confusion’ that caused the issue, resulting in the non-payment of the salaries of the aggrieved employees.
“First, the appointment was made after nearly 14 years, and after the appointment was done in 2020, we have not received a penny in the name of the salary even as all the formalities have been done; there is no respite despite the matter was taken up with the concerned authorities,” the employees said.
As per the details available, a selection list was published on December 16, 2020, for the Class IV posts in Baramulla while these posts were advertised through a notification (no. 04/ddcb of 2006) issued by the Deputy Commissioner Baramulla on October 18, 2006.
Subsequently, aggrieved employees said that the appointment process took place with the selection order (no. dcb/ps/22/2020) dated December 16, 2020, and the continuation of the appointment order (no. dcb/ps/23/2020) dated December 17, 2020.
As a result, they said, 184 candidates were appointed across nine different departments which include, Agriculture Production Department, Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department, Forest Department, Jal Shakti (PHE) Department R&B, Revenue Department, Rural Development Department, School Education Department and Tourism Department.
These 38 employees are working in three divisions in the district which include Sopore, Tangmarg and Baramulla. “All those who have been posted in these departments are drawing their salaries, except for the 38 appointed in the Jal Shakti Department (JSD) in district Baramulla,” the employees said.
It is to be noted here that the matter is currently lying with the Principal Secretary and has been there for nearly two months without any development whatsoever, leaving the employees who work regularly to fend for themselves.
“We are marking our attendance regularly and have completed all the other formalities; the employee codes have been generated while the necessary CID verification has also been carried out but, we never received the salary,” the employees said.
While the Chief Engineer, Jal Shakti Department did not respond to calls from Excelsior, the concerned Superintending Engineer, Muhammad Hanif said that they have forwarded their case and that they are hopeful that their matter will be resolved soon. “We were asked to file a report in this regard, which we have given; I think the matter will be resolved,” he said, adding that there was some confusion which resulted in the non-payment of salaries to these employees.
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