Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) leader Rafi Ahmad Mir on Friday urged J&K Bank authorities “not to traumatize its already depressed employees and release their pending salaries.
In a statement, Mir remarked that around 2,800 employees who were working with utmost dedication in various business units of the Bank have been “unnecessarily deprived” of their remunerations which was a gross injustice with their families.
“These employees have been working in the J&K Bank for the last many years and most of them have been promoted to higher positions. Now stopping their salaries is not only injustice but a violation of their fundamental rights,” Mir said.
He said the employees whose salary has been withheld have been giving their best to increase the clientele of the Bank and there were no complaints with regard to their professional aptitude or any sort of dereliction of duties.
Mir said JKAP has time and again reiterated its opinion that the “unwanted interference” of the government agencies in the functioning of J&K Bank was not only disadvantageous to the economic interests of people but also detrimental to the credibility of the financial institution.
He said the employees whose salary has been stopped by the Bank were supposed to shoulder responsibility for their families.
“These employees along with their families have been subjected to social stigma and are undergoing a mental trauma. Any further delay in release of their salaries can have dangerous ramifications on their mental health,” he said.
Mir urged the J&K government to avoid its interference in the functioning of the Bank and by restricting the Anti-Corruption Bureaus “unwanted presence” in the Bank headquarters which has “caused a huge dent in the credibility of this financial institution.”
He said the employees’ welfare from the first line of service provided at counters to the highest hierarchy of management especially in banking sectors was the first and foremost requirement to impart strength to its foundations.
“J&K Bank is not confined to a few places in Jammu and Kashmir but has extended to almost all states and cities of the country and it is otherwise imperative to get the functioning of the Bank back on the rails. This target can be achieved only if the Bank is allowed autonomous functioning without any bureaucratic interference from the government,” the JKAP leader said.