Jammu walks away with sizeable share of jobs meant for Kashmir

What could raise a few eyebrows, at least 901 candidates from schedule caste category from Jammu region have been recruited in government departments against the district and divisional cadre posts of Kashmir in the past eight years.
In a written response to PDP MLA Khalil Bandh’s question, the government has informed the legislative assembly that 901 candidates belonging to schedule caste category have been engaged in various districts of Kashmir since 2010. Those selected against the quota meant for Kashmir mostly hail from Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Reasi districts.
Interestingly, 43 such employees have managed their transfer to Jammu from Kashmir, the reply states.
A senior official, wishing anonymity, told Kashmir Post that around eight percent of the district and divisional cadre posts of Kashmir Valley are taken away by schedule candidates who are not ordinary residents of Kashmir.
“They are all from Jammu,” he said, adding that the net result is that employment opportunities at district level and divisional level for residents of Kashmir are less than Jammu.
Though the government has banned the inter-district and inter-division recruitments in 2010, it has however allowed the selection of schedule caste category candidates against any district or division cadre posts against the quota reserved for them.
Under the J&K reservation law, schedule castes have eight percent quota in government jobs.
The official said that all those selected under the district and divisional cadre posts of Kashmir are from Jammu region because Kashmir has no such population.
“It is sheer discrimination with Kashmir that schedule caste candidates are eligible for appointment against the district cadre posts of 12 districts of Kashmir and also the divisional cadre posts of the Valley. Since they are entitled to eight percent reservation, they walk away with a sizeable share of jobs meant for Kashmir,” he said. “If the government advertises 100 posts each for Kashmir and Jammu divisions, the candidates from Jammu get 108, while those from Valley get only 92 posts.”
Under the Jammu and Kashmir civil services decentralisation and recruitment Act, 2010, a person shall be eligible to the appointment to a district cadre post if he or she is a resident of the concerned district.
Similarly, a person shall be eligible to the appointment to a divisional cadre posts provided that he or she is a resident of the concerned division.
The law, however, allows selection of schedule caste candidates against any district or division cadre posts, irrespective of their place of residence in the state, against the quota reserved for them.