Govt fails to hold DPC meet
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Dec 22: Hundreds of posts of employees’ in Ravi Tawi Irrigation Canals (RTIC) Department and different wings of Irrigation & Flood Control Department are lying vacant since several years, with Government taking no initiative of filling up the same.
According to sources, near about 350 posts alone are lying vacant in RTIC for several years while hundreds of posts of different categories are lying vacant in Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC) which has hampered the working in both the departments to a great extent. With the result, the farmers are also facing the problems as the twin Departments are unable to cater to their demands and needs during the peak Rabi and Kharif seasons when the crops need round the clock irrigation facilities.
Sources said, while gazetted posts are lying vacant in the RTIC Department, there is a shortage of 330 non gazetted posts out of a total sanctioned strength of 530 posts of various categories in the Department while equal number of posts are also lying vacant in I&FC Department.
Sources said no steps were taken by the Government to fill up the posts which fell vacant after the retirement of the incumbent employees over the years which resulted into the shortage of staff.
Besides the Ministerial staff mostly posts lying vacant in the RTIC Department included the field staff like JEs, work supervisors, Baildars and mechanical staff to monitor the head works, gates and gages on the Tawi and Ravi canals, sources added.
Sources said the staff starved Departments have compounded the problems of the thousands of farmers’ right from Bari Brahmana in Samba district up to Chariot Govindsar in Kathua district as well as Akhnoor to RS Pura in Jammu district with the result the twin departments are unable to cater to the demands of the farmers during peak irrigation seasons.
Sources said irrigation is backbone of Agriculture Sector and in case it faces the shortage it can’t cater to the needs of the farmers especially in the peak Kharif and Rabi seasons.
Sources said lack of staff with the Department which was established to maintain the irrigation water supply to thousands of acres of land in Jammu region right from Bari Brahmana to Kathua and Akhnoor to RS Pura etc, the farmers are facing many hardships but the Government has not taken the issue seriously till date.
Sources said during the peak irrigation seasons, some employees even face wrath of the farmers as they are unable to cater to their demand of irrigation water supply properly with the heavy work load.
Alleging that the Government sans a proper policy in this regard, sources said that thousands of daily wagers are protesting for years together for their regularization and despite the previous PDP-BJP Government’s decision to regularize their services in a phased manner no headway has been made in this regard till date.
Had efforts been made in this regard, the Government could have overcome the shortage of the staff in the twin departments and farmers problems could have been eased to a great extent.
Out of these daily wagers some could have been easily adjusted against the vacant posts in RTIC and I&FC Departments after their regularization, sources said.
Due to the dearth of staff both RTIC and Irrigation Departments are presently being run on crutches with the result the farming community has to bear the brunt of the same. Sources said it is not known that what problem the Government has in regularising the senior most daily wagers against the vacant posts who are on roads for years together.
Such a step would have even given a feeling among the daily wagers that the Government is sincere for their regularization and it has created a way out for the same.
Sources said many posts of fitters’ foremen, helpers, work supervisors, electricians and motor winders are vacant in various wings of Irrigation and Flood Control Department in Jammu for years together.
Sources said the authorities, however, have failed fill up them by convening Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meetings with the result these posts have remained unfilled till date.
The employees unions have many times given representations to higher authorities in this regard but to no avail. The employees’ representatives are demanding absorption of daily wagers against these vacant posts but the Government has failed to frame a concrete policy in this regard which has been a cause of concern for employees, sources added.
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