Jammu: In consonance with the major demand of agitating employees, mainly Kashmiri Pandits, the J&K government has announced that for maintaining its (package’s) spirit, all Prime Minister (PM) package posts will be divisional level posts of Kashmir division and all the appointing departments will maintain separate seniority list for such employees.
Applicability of in-situ promotion avenues for all the employees appointed under PM package will be as per their eligibility and seniority. Their seniority will run parallel to the seniority of the regular employees in the appointing departments.
The decision is in pursuance with the Administrative Council decision No 89/6/2022 dated June 8, 2022 deliberating the issues of seniority or career progression of the employees appointed under PM package.
As per an order issued by the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction, sanction has been accorded to the maintenance of separate seniority for employees appointed under PM package by the appointing departments which will “run parallel to the seniority of the regular employees in the appointing departments” and will “take effect from the date of appointment against these posts.”
Besides, the government has also given a go-ahead to the creation of “pre-facto supernumerary posts at the corresponding higher level for the appointing departments for career progression of employees appointed under PM package by way of reducing supernumerary posts at lower level.”
As per the order, these supernumerary posts will be specific to the employees concerned and will be deemed to have been upgraded in personal capacity as and when these employees get promoted as per eligibility criteria and in proportion to the regular employees.
It has been specified that the promotion thus made will have to be based on seniority and eligibility as per recruitment rules and also creation of supernumerary posts in proportion to the existing ratio for the said posts given in the recruitment rules of the department category wise.
“Henceforth, for maintaining the spirit of the PM package, all the PM package posts shall be divisional level posts of Kashmir division,” the order mentioned.
Earlier, the reports quoting official sources had maintained that the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, while chairing the meeting of Administrative Secretaries, DCs and SPs convened to review the implementation of promotion of PM package employees on June 21, had fixed the deadline for the completion of promotion process of such employees, thus meeting their long pending demands.
Following the killing of Rahul Bhat, an employee of the Revenue department appointed under the PM’s package rolled out in 2009, such employees, mainly Kashmiri Pandits, have been agitating seeking their relocation to safer areas. Later, after the killing of a teacher Rajni Bala, all the employees belonging to minority communities serving in Kashmir too have joined the cause with similar demands.