Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 8: In a major step, the Government has enhanced the promotional avenues of the departmental feeding services officers by carrying out necessary amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service Rules, 2008. Now, 50% of the time scale posts will be filled up by appointment by promotion from 18 feeding services as against earlier 45%.
Vide notification dated December 1, 2008, the General Administration Department (GAD) had notified Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service Rules. Under these Rules, the method of recruitment to the J&K Administrative Service (KAS) was defined.
As per these Rules, the recruitment to J&K Administrative Service is made by a competitive examination to the junior scale posts being conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission and by promotion to the time scale of the service from amongst the members of 18 feeding services.
These 18 feeding services are Administrative Officers (Gazetted) Service, Cooperative, Employment, Excise and Taxation, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Hospitality, Protocol and Agencies, Handicraft, Handlooms, Industries and Commerce (Functional Managers and Project Managers), Information, Labour, Rural Development, Revenue, Social Welfare, Secretariat (Gazetted) Service (Under Secretaries and Private Secretaries), Stationery and Office Supplies, Tourism and Transport.
Rule 11 of the J&K Administrative Services Rules, 2008 deals with number of time scale posts to be filled up from junior scale members and by appointment of members of departmental feeding services and by selection.
This Rule states that 55 per cent of the time scale posts shall be filled up by promotion from those recruited to the J&K Administrative Service directly at its junior scale and 45 per cent of the time scale posts shall be filled up by appointment by promotion from feeding services in proportion to the strength of the posts in the respective services.
“The gap of 10% in filling up of time scale posts was being resented by the officers of the feeding services during the past quite long time and they had submitted a number of representations to the Government through General Administration Department in this regard”, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “they were of the stand that this anomaly was denying them promotional avenues and their demand was about bringing parity in filling up of time scale posts by promotion from those recruited to the service directly or by appointment by promotion from feeding services”.
Now, the Government has removed this anomaly and ensured parity by increasing the percentage from 45% to 50% in respect of time scale posts to be filled by appointment by promotion from feeding services by corresponding reduction of 5% in respect of time scale posts to be filled up by promotion from those recruited to the service directly at its junior scale.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by proviso to Section 124 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the Government hereby direct that the words 55 and 45 appearing in clause (a) and (b) respectively in Sub-Rule 1 of Rule 11 of J&K Administrative Service Rules, 2008 shall be substituted by the word 50 against each”, reads SRO 256 issued by the Commissioner/ Secretary to Government, General Administration Department, Gazzanfer Hussain.
It is pertinent to mention here that promotion/selection of the eligible officers from the feeding services to the time scale of the J&K Administrative Service is made on the recommendations of a selection committee consisting of the Chief Secretary and such other members as may be nominated by the Government.
As far as promotion of junior scale members to the time scale of J&K Administrative Service is concerned, only those members are considered who have completed four years of service in junior scale as on January 1 of the year in which promotion is to be made and those who have passed the departmental examination, if any, prescribed under rules. In this case, the availability of the post in the time scale of the service and suitability of the officer for promotion are also considered by the Government.