Srinagar, Dec 22: Jostling through unending queues and braving police batons, Pervez Mushtaq, a post-graduate in Urdu from Kupwara was seen more than satisfied Tuesday after submitting his application for a Class-IV post.
Mushtaq was among the hundreds of highly qualified candidate applying for the 26 Class-IV posts advertised by the Law department recently. The minimum and maximum qualification for the post is matric and 10+ 2 respectively. The pay scale for the post is Rs 4440-7440 (with the grade pay of Rs 1300).
The designated nodal agency for receiving the application forms, the Directorate of Litigation in the lower Court premises was thronged by a large number of candidates from across the Valley. To maintain the queue, police exchanged heated arguments with the enthused candidates and frequently resorted to mild cane-charge.
“I have been applying for various posts since 2006 but with no luck. Being lone bread-earner of my family, I am forced to apply for the Class-IV post,” Mushtaq lamented.
Ghulam Muhammad Kathoo, of Telbal waited for hours together to submit the application form of his son, Muzaffar, a graduate in Arts. “I worked as a labourer to support my son’s education. Unfortunately despite many attempts, he didn’t get any job. As it is difficult for me to support the family of 12 members including five daughters, I motivated him to apply for this job as it will save us from starvation,” he said after finally receiving receipt for the form. But what worries Kathoo is huge response to the posts. “I understand that every applicant needs the job. But I can only pray for my son’s success,” he said.
Pertinently, a large number of females too are applying for the post. Nusrat Bano (name changed) with a Masters in Education from Kashmir University has a personal reason to apply for the post.
“In contemporary times, it is difficult for a girl to get a match without a government job. It does not matter whether the job is Class-IV or higher than that,” she said.
But for majority of females in the queue, the post is a necessity than a status symbol. “We are aware that we are eligible for higher posts but there is no vacancy in government departments. It is our responsibility to support our families and we don’t feel ashamed to apply for Class-IV posts,” says Shaista, a PG in Home Science.
The office bearers of the Directorate of Litigation are facing a tough time in receiving the application forms for past few weeks. “We have received more than 6000 forms. It is a challenging job as there is a massive response to the posts. The candidates have high hopes to get the job. We have deputed more staff from other offices here to receive forms,” said Muhammad Sayeed Shah, secretary State Human Rights Commission who holds additional charge of the Director Litigation.
Muhammad Muneer, a section officer of the Directorate, said he alongwith many officials were injured due to attacks by the candidates. “We have to seek assistance of police to receive the forms. At the same time we can understand the frustration of the jobless candidates. On average we receive 600 forms in a day. By December 31, the last date we expect to receive over 10,000 forms,” he said.
As Mir Showkat a graduate alongwith other candidates proceed to submit the forms, there was commotion. The policemen ruthlessly thrashed them. “Government has only batons to offer. The successive regimes have been only chanting slogans of mitigating unemployment,” the aggrieved candidates lamented.
Senior counsel, Zaffar Ahmad Shah told Greater Kashmir that the unemployment was a serious issue with the potential adversely affecting the youth of the Valley.
 “There seems to be a deliberate effort to keep highly qualified members of a particular community and from a particular region out of the responsible positions involving decision-making. The injustice needs to be remedied as early as possible. We should not allow ourselves to become a class-IV society,” Shah said.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 IST