Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 8: JKNPP chairman and former minister Harshdev Singh has said that despite massive outrage sparked all across the Jammu region over the highly controversial select list of Firemen and drivers recently released by Fire services Deptt, it was most regrettable that the J&K administration had failed to take cognizance.
Singh said the protests against the said selections are being held by the agitated youth all over with the concerned authorities and vigilant organizations appearing to have buried their heads in the sand. It was shocking that Govt had failed to initiate the much needed action despite glaring defects and irregularities committed in the said selections.
Addressing a press conference here today Singh said that irregular practices in the said selections were most conspicuously evident which however, failed to invite due attention of helmsman due to vested interests. It was astonishing to note that while middle pass candidates were figuring in the final select list, the candidates with much higher qualification including MA, BA were declared unsuccessful and rejected, said Singh.
He said that selections were held at State level basis with certain districts having been completely washed out in the process of selections. And while all such selections at class-III and class-IV used to be held on District level prior to enactment of new rules post re-organization of State, it was strange to note that the said selections were held on State/UT level basis. And all this notwithstanding the fact that the process for selections was initiated as for back as in 2013, Singh revealed.
Pointing towards the share of various districts in the said selections, Harshdev pointed out that the Reasi district was completely washed out with not a single candidate having been selected as Fireman in the open merit category out of 338 candidates. Similarly, out of 84 candidates selected in open merit as drivers, the share of Reasi district was again zero. Likewise, Kathua and Kishtwar districts got barely one candidate each under open merit category and Udhampur and Samba getting two candidates each. In Samba district also the two selected candidates under open merit belong to ST category and not a single candidate from General category in District Samba has been selected. District Budgam gets the highest share in selections with 78 candidates appearing in selection list followed by Baramulla getting 72 and Pulwama getting 51 candidates.
Similar is the case with the select list of drivers, wherein also the lions share has gone to Kashmir, with mere a sprinkling having fallen in the kitty of Jammu region. The resentment against the said selections however, appeared in both the regions in view of large scale allegations of subversion of merit and reports of corrupt practices in finalization of the list.
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