Jammu, Oct 30: Around 200 Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers in Jammu and Kashmir are awaiting their formal posting despite the state facing severe shortage of officers in almost all departments.
Well informed sources said that even after deciding to cut short the probation period of around 200 KAS officers of 2011 batch- presently undergoing on-the-job rotational postings in various departments - the Government is yet to decide on their field postings.
“The probation period of the officers will end on November 7, 2012, and General Administration Department was expected to issue formal posting orders well before that,” sources in the civil secretariat told Greater Kashmir.
They added that instead of making the formal postings, the Government has now ordered that the officers shall continue at their present place of posting (one-month rotational probation period) till November 30.
“After first three phases of the rotational appointments, we are almost sitting idle,” one of the KAS probationers said on the condition of anonymity, adding, “We were initially told that the posting orders will be issued well before Durbar Move but now we have been asked to continue on our probation till next month ending, creating an uncertainty.”
Jammu and Kashmir is facing severe shortage of officers and officials at the ground level affecting not only the State Government’s functioning but even the flagship programs of the Central Government being executed by the State.
At least 73000 posts- 11292 in gazetted cadre, 45588 in non-gazetted cadre and 16009 in class-IV category – are lying vacant in different departments in Jammu and Kashmir.
Around 200 KAS officers of 2009-11 batch are undergoing probation for the last more than a year after the Government changed the nomenclature and graded all KAS qualifiers as Under Secretaries.
Unlike past, these probationers are undergoing training on the pattern of IAS officers and are in the fifth phase of their on-the-job rotational postings.
“Earlier, posting of these probationers was for three months but now the time period has been reduced to one month for each posting,” an official in the General Administration Department told Greater Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 IST