Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 16: The Jammu and Kashmir Government mulling to pre-maturely retire its employees has created a ripples in the offices.
It’s in place to mention here that the speculations about the government having decided to chop the deadwood started making rounds after newly elected Mayor of SMC, Junaid Azim Mattoo, last week tweeted that he is writing to the government to conduct a performance review of all SMC officers and employees who have attained 48 years of age or have completed 22 years of service. “Seeking enactment of provisions of Article 226(2) of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations to weed out deadwood, am writing to the Government to conduct a performance review of all SMC officers and employees who have attained 48 years of age/22 years of service,” Mattoo had tweeted.
Sources told Precious Kashmir that the J&K Government is preparing a list of the officials whose performance has not been upto the mark. “The SMC Mayor writing a letter to the administration to review of the performances of the employees could just be the beginning of initiating the process to get rid of the deadwood. It could begin from the SMC and later reach on to the other government departments,” sources added.
Pertinently, in October this year, the Jammu and Kashmir government amended Article 226 (2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations for a provision to retire at any time any government servant in the public interest after he has completed 22 years of service or attained 48 years of age.
“Since the day the circular has been issued many employees have become anxious. Speculations about the list being prepared has added to the worries of the people working in different departments,” the source said.
An official, who wished anonymity said, “The government is very serious about removing the deadwood from the system so that the younger generation is given a chance to come forward and take the charge. Only non-performers are being identified. The ones who are doing their jobs sincerely need not worry.”
He said, “The Civil Service Regulation rule was amended after lot of deliberations. All the pros and cons were looked into before amending this important rule.”
It may be recalled that the former political dispensations on many occasions had acted against the deadwood in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State. The ones who were sacked on the basis of non-performance, easily used to get their jobs back due to rules not being stringent. “Now the time and rules both have changed,” the official added.
Govt mulling to axe deadwood creates ripples in offices
