No Work, No Pay; Lt Guv Manoj Sinha to protesting Kashmiri Pandits

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said employees from the minority community, including Kashmiri Pandits protesting in Jammu and not resuming their duties in Kashmir, would not be paid salaries.

“After the employees fled to Jammu from Kashmir, they asked for a ‘breathing period’ which we allowed and provided salaries till August this year. We cannot pay them if they are sitting at home and not resuming their duties,” the L-G said at a press conference in Jammu. The L-G said he was in touch with the protesting employees and had heard their genuine demands. “We have ensured that all Kashmiri Pandit employees are transferred to the district headquarters. Only those in the Rural Development Department are working in villages of Kashmir as they cannot be shifted to city areas,” the L-G said.

He said to address their grievances, officers had been specifically posted in every district of the Valley. On reserved category employees posted in Kashmir but protesting in Jammu for months now, the L-G said they were Kashmir division employees and could not be transferred to Jammu.

On the security situation, he said those involved in the terror ecosystem in J&K would face action as per the law. “Such persons are traced continuously by security agencies and are booked from time to time,” the L-G said. On whether the administration would allow Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, he said any march held within democratic principles and law was allowed.