Originally appeared in the State Times in a column by Dost Khan
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JAMMU: Politics makes strange bed-fellows. This is a universally acknowledged maxim. However, the Jammu BJP, comprising ‘Mitti-ke-Madhavs’, under the close vigil of National General Secretary Ram Madhav, gave a new definition to the maxim by completely laying down before the PDP in 2015 after entering into the power corridors for the first time, and who knows, perhaps the last time. The PDP had only asked the BJP to bend down but they instead started crawling.
And, in the pursuit of remaining in a power-sharing arrangement, the BJP willingly and mischievously connived and conspired with the PDP in 2015 to implement SRO 202, brought in by the National Conference-Congress coalition government in 2014. It would have been politically desirable for the two ruling coalition partners to nullify the rules enacted by arch-rivals National Conference and the Congress. But they compromised because PDP wanted to have it in place-reason being to get more and more educated youth employed, even on minimum salaries, to strengthen their core constituency. What the NC failed to achieve, the PDP got in a platter. Both the Kashmir centric parties maintained convergence despite ideological divergence. They say ‘Chor-Chor-Maseray Bhai’.

The Jammu BJP didn’t speak a word after the implementation of SRO-202 which saw a number of recruits getting into service. The region-wise list of the appointees will reveal the motivation to have this illogical rule implemented. A white-paper on this can expose the malicious intent even at this point of time. Of course, the youth from Jammu too got appointed but their career too remained turbulent along-side their counterparts in the Valley and also Ladakh, which is a Union Territory now. The hapless SRO 202 employees, irrespective of their regional affiliation are struggling for justice.

The SRO 202 was issued under the powers conferred by the proviso to Section 124 of now scrapped Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. The rules also called as special recruitment rules of 2015, which are applicable to all non-gazetted posts borne on the establishment of any department or service of the Government and such gazetted post, as may be notified by the Government from time to time. The rules read, “The appointees have to necessarily work for a period of five years on the post against which he has been appointed and such appointee will not be eligible for transfer for whatsoever reason during the temporary service of five years. Provided that any person appointed against any available vacancy on the basis of being a resident of the backward area or an area adjoining Line of Actual Control shall serve in such areas for a period of not less than seven years.”

“During the period of first five years, the appointee will be entitled to the minimum of scale of pay along with the grade pay applicable to the post against which he is appointed,” as per rules.

Since their appointment, the SRO 202 employees have been struggling for the scrapping of the provision. However, the gubernatorial dispensation is yet to take any call on the popular demand despite the Law Commission reportedly recommending, “Those employees who have completed two years of probation on the date of the promulgation of Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act 2019 may be regularized subject to the conditions laid down in the SRO and the cases of those employees who will be completing two years of probation on any future date may be taken up for such consideration on such dates.”

Jammu BJP ought to have taken up this issue seriously being the representatives of the people and appreciating the injustice being meted out to the appointees under SRO 202. But they have abdicated their responsibly, not in the instant case, but every issue of public importance. Most of the Jammu BJP bigwigs may be ‘inactive’ as far as seeking redressal to public grievances is concerned but they are very ‘potent’ when it comes to satiating personal ambitions and aspirations. The stint in the coalition government will surely bring many skeletons from the cupboard.