J&K: PM package posts re-designated as divisional posts, to expedite employees' promotion

According to an official spokesperson, the move will remove the bottleneck in the career progression of the employees posted under the PM package by stipulating a separate seniority list of the PM package employees in the respective departments and help in their promotion.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Administration on Wednesday re-designated all posts under the PM package scheme for Kashmiri Pandits as divisional level posts to streamline the career progression of the employees and expedite their promotions. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Administrative Council headed by the LG Manoj Sinha. The meeting was attended by Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary and Nitish Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor.

According to an official spokesperson, the move will remove the bottleneck in the career progression of the employees posted under the PM package by stipulating a separate seniority list of the PM package employees in the respective departments and help in their promotion. The implementation of the scheme would be monitored at the highest level to ensure that the eligible employees could avail the benefits of the scheme as soon as possible.

The perk for the KP employees comes amid their recent protests over relocation out of the valley in view of the killings of two of the fellow employees Rahul Bhat and Rajni Bala. Rahul Bhat, an employee in the Revenue Department was shot dead inside Tehsil Office Chadoora on May 12 while Bala, a teacher was shot dead inside her school in Kulgam on May 31.

It is pertinent to mention that in the year 2000, the Congress government led by Manmohan Singh had started the PM package scheme for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, under which 6,000 government jobs were to be given to Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir for which residential colonies are being set up for them. About 5,000 employees have been recruited under this package so far.