Srinagar July 5: After around 20 years wait, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to regularize services of in-charge officers working at different levels in the education department.
The regularization of the officials - Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs), senior Headmasters, Headmasters, Zonal Education Project Officers (ZEPOs), District Education Project Officers, Principals, Deputy Chief Education Officers - is pending for almost 20 years as the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC), which clears the promotions, has not met during the period.
To begin with, the government has cleared regularisation of all the in-charge ZEOs of for confirmation of their services.
“More than 550 ZEOs will be benefited through confirmation,” said Commissioner/Secretary School Education, Naseem Lanker. Government will be soon issuing the formal orders for their regularisation, she said.
Asked about the fate of officers of different categories awaiting confirmation of their services, Lanker said: “DPC had not met for the past 20 years. We are on the job now and the regularisation process will be taken category-wise.”
Officials said over 700 Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) and senior Headmasters have not been regularized since 1991 while another 500 officers are working on the posts of ZEPOs and Headmasters on in-charge basis.
Besides, 131 DEPOs, Principals, Dy CEOs are craving for the justice for a long time.
“The number of officers in each category is in hundreds. Some of them are awaiting regularization since 1990,” said a top official of the department.
Normally the DPC, consisting of members from education department, Public Service Commission and General Administration Department, requires meeting annually for clearing the regularisation of officers.
It takes into account different parameters like seniority and performance while deciding on the cases.
Ignored by the government many of these officers have already attained superannuation while some of them have since passed away.
Shelving of the regularisation process has been affecting the work in the department too as the in-charge officers had limited powers to make decision.
Besides, the officers have only charge allowance not the actual grade of the post they are working on.
The affected officers have been pursuing their case for a long time. Strong resentment was brewing among the affected officers against the government for denying them their rights.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 5 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 5 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST