Srinagar: Government on Tuesday changed the nomenclature of class-IV to “Multitasking Staff (MTS)” and sweeper as “sanitation” worker.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 309 of the Constitution of India, the Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is pleased to direct that: “The nomenclature of all Class-IV posts is re-designated as “Multitasking Staff (MTS) with the nature of job/duties (except the post of “Sanitation Workers” and the posts which requires technical qualification), in all the Departments/Autonomous Bodies/ PSUs etc,” reads a notification.

“These rules shall come into force from the date of the publication in the official Gazette. All the departments shall accordingly amend their Subordinate Service Recruitment Rules.”

As per a separate notification, the Lieutenant Governor also directed that in all Subordinate Service Recruitment Rules governing different services or any other rules governing the subject, the nomenclature/designation of posts of Sweepers, SafaiwaIas and Safai-Karamcharis or any other designation related to the job profile, shall be re-designated as “Sanitation Worker” across all the Departments/Autonomous Bodies/PSUs etc.

“The minimum and maximum qualification for the post of Sanitation Worker across all the departments shall be 8th pass and 10+2 respectively.”,” the notification reads, adding, “All the departments shall accordingly amend their subordinate service recruitment rules.”

Srinagar: Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday said that it trapped and arrested an Auditor (Accounts Assistant), Sadar Treasury, Srinagar for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 2500 and said that Rs 1,16,125 cash and cheque of Rs 7000 were also recovered on his personal search.

As per a statement, ACB received a written complaint wherein the complainant alleged that an Auditor (Accounts Assistant) of Sadar Treasury Srinagar namely Syed Mujeeb Indrabi was demanding Rs 2500 as bribe for release of pending payment of a bill amounting Rs 2,50,000 due to the complainant in respect of completion of a work of Ziyarat Shareef at Letapora, Pulwama, allotted by Tourism Department Kashmir.

On this, the complainant approached ACB Srinagar for further necessary legal action.

“On receipt of the complaint, a case under FIR number 12/2022 under section 7 PC Act 1988 IPC was registered in this Bureau and investigation was taken up. During the course of investigation a trap team was constituted. The team laid a successful trap and caught red-handed Syed Mujeeb Indrabi, Auditor (Accounts Assistant) while demanding and accepting a bribe amount of Rs 2500 from the complainant. He was arrested on the spot by the ACB team. The bribe money was also recovered from his possession in presence of independent witnesses. During search of the pocket of the accused Rs 1,16,125 (in cash) and cheque of Rs7000 were also recovered from the accused.”

“Immediately after the trap, search was also conducted in the residential house of the accused. Further investigation into the case is on,” the statement added.

By: Raja Syed Rather

Ganderbal: Eight families of Kashmiri Pandits lived in this village called Laduna in Ganderbal, until 1990, when all of them migrated to Delhi and Jammu.

But there remains a Shiva temple in the neighbourhood, which is still being taken care of by a young Muslim, Mohammad Altaf, who says that he comes regularly to this temple and cleans it, because as a Muslim it is his duty to care for the fellow Pandits. “Our religion teaches us to respect our non-Muslim brothers and protect their property,” he said.

According to Altaf, apart from taking care of the temple, the local Muslims have worked with the Panchayat body to restore the temple structure and work on it will start very soon.

An elderly Muslim man in the village, Ab Ahad Rather, said that before 1990 the Pandits and Muslims used to live like brothers and sisters.

He said that even when the situation in the Kashmir Valley deteriorated in 1990, the Muslims came to the Pandits’ help, even sleeping in their homes to guard them.

“But time forced them to leave,” he said.

Rather said that a Pandit neighbour named Hira Lal sold his land to him, in return for which he paid a good price and for which he also has official documents.

He added that Hira Lal and his family come and stay at his home for two or three months every year. “We are in touch with them even today and we still share our grief with each other,” Rather said. (KNO)