J&K Govt Seeks Verification of Appointments Some Employees in Jammu and Kashmir
Government Seeks Verification of Appointments for Over 990 Officials in Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government has initiated a comprehensive review of the appointments of more than 990 officials, including two district and sessions judges, as it appears to lack records regarding their appointments.
The government has urged all administrative departments to furnish ‘supporting documents’ by November 15 to a committee led by the principal secretary of the finance department to authenticate the legitimacy of these appointments.
The unexpected inclusion of two judicial officers, whose records were purportedly verified by the High Court upon joining, has raised eyebrows among officials.
Despite the usual practice of the High Court maintaining records for judicial officers, it seems the government did not consult the court in this instance.
The general administration department (GAD) revealed that the salaries of these officials have been withheld since the implementation of the JK-HRMS (human resource management system) in October 2022 due to the absence of their initial appointment orders.
In an office memo dated October 31, the GAD has requested various ‘supporting documents’ from affected officials to verify the legitimacy of their appointments.
Among the impacted officials, 541 belong to the health and medical education department, followed by 128 from irrigation and flood control, and 83 from education.
Other affected departments encompass industries and commerce, home, Jal Shakti, public health engineering, agriculture production, consumer affairs and public distribution, finance, forests, general administration, PWD, department and hospitality & protocol, revenue, rural development, and science and technology.
The specified supporting documents include the authenticated first page of the service book, relevant entries about the initial appointment, recommendations of SSB/PSC (in case of direct recruitment), entries in muster roll or allied records regarding wage payment before regularization (for contractual/daily wager/ad-hoc), and references to appointments in official records.
All documents must reach the GAD before November 15 for examination by the committee, comprising the director general accounts and treasuries, along with representatives from the GAD, ARI & training, and the department of law, justice, and parliamentary affairs.
The JK-HRMS, introduced in October 2022, aims to provide an integrated platform for employee-related services.
The decision to disburse October 2022 salaries exclusively to employees registered or updated on the JK-HRMS has been defended by a senior UT administration officer, citing received supporting documents for numerous employees.
The resolution of concerns regarding the remaining 600-700 employees is anticipated in the coming days.
