Srinagar, Dec 3: An order by the Jammu and Kashmir Government has raised a question mark on the fairness in recruiting the National Youth Corps (NYC) volunteers in the state, with stakeholders demanding an impartial inquiry into the entire selection process.
On Wednesday, the office of the District Development Commissioner Budgam issued an order canceling at least 51 appointments of NYC volunteers against whom the appointment orders had already been issued. The order said the office had received 123 complaints after it made the “provisional appointment” of the NYC volunteers in the district. The complaints, it said, were examined by a “Grievance Inquiry Committee” constituted in this regard.
“The selection of 51 candidates which was made vide this office No: DCB/Bud/NYK/2957-61 dated 25-10-2010 is required to be cancelled,” the order read.
The grounds on which the appointment of the selected candidates has been cancelled include: “Variation in Halqa certificate. Lower merit. Marks shown wrongly. Halqa certificate not produced. Found absent in interview and selected due to error. Having lower merit than others. Found underage.”
The blocks of the Budgam district in which the cancellations were made include Beerwah, Khag, Chadoora, Khan Sahib, Nagam and K Pora.
Official sources disclosed to Greater Kashmir that the Budgam cancellations were just a tip of the iceberg. “The point is how the officials entertained fake documents or incomplete applications in the first place,” asked a senior government officer, insisting not to be named. “It seems there has been an exchange of money between the applicants and the officials before their applications were entertained. Or, the applicants were close to some officials in the DDC office. Now when the complaints poured in, the administration has been forced to cancel the earlier appointments.”
According to observers, similar “discrepancies” have been found in the selection of NYC volunteers in other districts of the state. “Actually the applications were accepted in a jiffy some months back. That time the government was keep to entertain applications of youth in a bid to break the unrest. But later it was found that the applicants have produced fake documents,” said a group of aggrieved applicants. “When we heard about it, we made a written representation to the Deputy Commissioner Budgam, asking him to inquire the matter. The inquiry revealed gross discrepancies.”
According to officials, the NYC scheme has been launched to engage the youth in different government departments for a period of two years to “raise awareness” about issues pertaining to education, tourism, health. Amid the prevailing unrest, the state government deputed youth to different departments under the central government’s NYC programme.
After two years, the state intends to provide training to the volunteers in different courses which can lead to their employment ultimately. During this time the volunteers shall be paid Rs 2500 per month each.
Official sources revealed that the overall allotment under the programme is 8000. The youth, they said, are being engaged in departments like the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, Srinagar Development Authority, Social Welfare, Health, Tourism, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and Yuva Kendra.
The aggrieved applicants have demanded an impartial inquiry into the entire selection process. “It is the deserving candidates who need to be selected. There should be no room for any influence. The scheme has been launched to tackle the unemployment, but in some districts the applications of even the employed persons have been entertained,” they said. “The Jammu and Kashmir Government must constitute a committee of officials to examine the entire selection process so that justice is done to the aggrieved aspirants.”
When contacted, the Secretary, Youth Services and Sports, BA Runiyal, who is monitoring the programme, admitted that some candidates had been selected on the basis of misrepresentation of facts. “But there is a mechanism in place which checks any wrongdoing,” he told Greater Kashmir. “In any system grievances are there. But I assure you that justice would be done to the aggrieved aspirants in case any discrepancy is found.”

Lastupdate on : Fri, 3 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 3 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 4 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST