Demanding scrapping of the inter-district recruitment policy, former minister Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali said the educated unemployed youth from underprivileged class are “worst sufferers due to the ban on inter-district recruitments”.
Addressing a press conference at press club Rajouri, Zulfkar said that ban on the inter-district recruitments has affected the educated unemployed youth from reserved categories including scheduled tribe (ST), resident of backward area (RBA) and actual line of control (ALC).
He said that youth from the underprivileged class “are not demanding anything above law and they are just raising the issue to provide them an opportunity in nation building.”
“Our educated youth are frustrated and they have no opportunity to compete in all districts due to ban on inter district recruitments,” he added.
Terming the ban as unjust, Zulfkar said he was member of a select committee in 2010 which was deliberating on the inter-district recruitment ban and he was the only member of the committee who outright rejected the policy and opposed the ban.
He said that when he was the minister he was pushing for it and had raised the issue with then chief minister on several occasions.
Projecting hill council demand for Pir Panchal districts, Zulfkar said that geographically the districts of Rajouri and Poonch were different from the rest of the state and have suffered because of ‘topographical disadvantage’ of Pir Panchal.
He said only the hill council is the solution to redress the miseries of the people of this region.
He said he had raised this demand in the assembly and during his meeting with PM Narendra Modi and home minister of India Raj Nath Singh.
He expressed concern over snail’s pace work on Jammu-Akhnoor-Rajouri-Poonch road, which he said has been declared national highway (NH).
He hailed the central government for announcing Jammu-Poonch railway line.