Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Oct 23: The Jammu and Kashmir Government amending the civil service regulations are being seen as move to cut its employees to size.
On Thursday Finance Department issued a notification stating that in exercise of powers conferred under proviso to Article 309 of Indian Constitution, Lieutenant Governor has directed that Article 226(2) of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations may be substituted as follows: “226 (2): (a) Notwithstanding anything contained in these Regulations, Government may, if it is of the opinion that in the public interest to do so, require any Government servant other than one working on a post which is included in Schedule II of these Rules, to retire at any time after he has completed 22 years of qualifying service or on attaining 48 years of age, provided that the Appropriate Authority shall give a notice to Government servant at least 3 months before the date on which he is required to retire or 3 months of pay and allowance in lieu of such notice.”
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “The government jobs don’t guarantee secure future anymore. Now, the employees who have completed 22-years of service or have attained the age of 48-years can be shown the door after being served a 3-month notice. The government jobs in J&K after the recent amendment are no better than the private jobs. If someone is employed by a private company threat about him being fired at any point of time keeps on prevailing all the time.”
He said, “Since the day J&K has been turned into the Union Territory speculations have been rife that the government is mulling to get rid of the deadwood and non-performing employees. It seems that amending the service rules is a first step towards axing the government employees whose performance has been below par.”
An observer said, “Now, the government employees are in no position to take their jobs for granted. They will have to work hard to keep themselves in green zone. If they keep on doing what they used to do in the past they can end up in a big mess.”
He said, “The government has made it clear that it means business and the ones who don’t want to be a part of the enterprise can be thrown out after being served a simple notice.”
The government’s decision to tighten the noose around its employees has evoked a sharp reaction from the political parties. “Politicians raising hue and cry won’t help anyone’s cause as the decision seems to have been taken at the highest level,” the observer added.
