Disposal of service matters will become simple: Justice Mittal
Employees will benefit immensely by Bench: LG
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, June 8 : Maintaining that interviews for jobs, particularly for the lower and non-gazetted posts, have been abolished to end malpractices in recruitment process, Union Minister in PMO with Independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh today declared that SRO 202 will be reviewed.
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After formally inaugurating, through video conference, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Bench of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh, which has been established at Jammu, Dr Jitendra Singh made a special reference to SRO 202 and said, it is not compatible with the new scheme of things and therefore, needs to be re-visited. However, he said, there should be no politics on this issue at the cost of youth. He further added that the matter has been discussed and soon the Lieutenant Governor regime will review this issue.
Dr Jitendra Singh who was the chief guest in the programme, while endorsing the new job policy made by the UT Government said that there will be no room for backdoor appointments or other considerations with the formation of new recruitment policy.
Taking a dig at those who were doubting the capacity of CAT to deal with 30,000 cases being transferred from J&K High Court, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this question should have been addressed to those who allowed this pendency to pile up and who are responsible for this pendency, because CAT is not responsible for it. He said, the pendency of 30,000 cases is a liability being handed over to CAT and the real question is, where this liability has come from?. This has not been created by CAT but was a previous liability, he added.
Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, said Dr Jitendra Singh, will now get the same benefits and dividends as the rest of India and there should be no room for any cynicism or scepticism.
He recalled, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had first suggested abolition of interviews in recruitment during his Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort.
In a quick follow up, within three months, Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) issued orders for the abolition of interviews from January 1, 2016 but the Government in the erstwhile State of J&K did not implement this rule, which has now become applicable and all the future recruitments in the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh for these posts will be based purely on the written test merit, while the skill test will only be a qualifying test and not carry any marks. This, he said, is expected to bring in more transparency in recruitment and provide a level-playing field for every candidate from any background and also to a large extent, help to end the culture of providing jobs through backdoor, or jobs for recommendations or allegedly jobs for cash.
He said after the abolition of Article 370 and Jammu & Kashmir having becoming a Union Territory, the streamlining of recruitment and other processes has begin and it will be accomplished in course of time.
Dr Jitendra Singh reiterated that this Government stands for justice even to the most deprived sections and therefore, even if there is one single candidate from poor background who gets selected on the basis of his merit and hard work, “We shall stand by him instead of getting cowed down by unwarranted pressure from those lobbying for backdoor entry. This Government works with conviction and not under pressure’’.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, all the Central Acts are now applicable in Union Territory of J&K and Ladakh, and the notifications are being issued one by one. He appealed to the “habitual” critics to have patience and cryptically remarked “you endured the earlier Governments for seven decades but you are not ready to give even seven months to the Lieutenant Governor who has completed seven months in office just a week back”. First they asked where is Domicile Law, then where is West Pak refugees order, then where is notification for 5300 PoJK families, then where is Delimitation Commission, and you saw everything happened one by one, he added.
He said that the transformation which happened on August 5 & 6, 2019 was beyond anybody’s imagination and the transformation that is to come will also be beyond anybody’s imagination.
Expressing satisfaction over the fact that three important agencies affiliated with DoPT, namely Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Central Information Commission (CIC) have become functional in J&K, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is the Govt of India “Prevention of Corruption Act” which is now applicable in J&K and whereby there will be time bound disposal of cases and bribe-giver will be equally punishable as the bribe-taker.
Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu who was the guest of honour observed that with the coming up of J&K Bench of the Tribunal, the employees of J&K and Ladakh would now be better poised to seek the redressal of their grievances pertaining to service matters. “About 34,000 cases pertaining to service matters of the employees of J&K are being transferred from J&K High Court to the Tribunal for quick disposal. This will be a huge relief to the employees, who will immensely benefit from this Bench of the Tribunal”, he added.
Lt Governor said that the Administration of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir would extend all possible support so that the Central Administrative Tribunal does not face any difficulty while discharging its functions. He thanked the Central Government for taking all necessary steps to make the Tribunal functional in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir within the shortest possible time.
He also observed that with the establishment of the Central Administrative Tribunal, the guarantee of speedy, effective, decentralized dispensation of justice as guaranteed in the Constitution of India would be available to the employees of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. “I believe the establishment of this Tribunal will achieve desired objectives”, he maintained.
Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal, Justice L. Narasimha Reddy gave the welcome address. The inaugural ceremony was also addressed by Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, Ms Gita Mittal who observed that with the establishment of the Bench in J&K the disposal of service matters will become simple. Member Judicial, Central Administrative Tribunal, Jammu, Rakesh Sagar Jain gave the vote of thanks on the occasion.
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