TSrinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) leaders on Monday urged Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to immediately formulate regularization policy for engineers and Gram Rojgar Sevaks (GRSs) in MGNREGA on contractual basis besides rescinding the decision decisions to abolish self-help-groups (SHGs) of engineers.
In a joint statement, JKPCC vice presidents G N Monga and Mohammad Anwar Bhat, former minister Khem Lata Wakhlu, senior leaders Advocate Manzoor Ahmad Ganie, Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Inyat-ullah Rather, Abdul Jabbar, Aftab Ahmad Beig, Engineer Maroof Ahmad, Manzoor Ahmad Khan, Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan, A R Magrey, Mushtaq Ahmad Bazaz and Suljit Singh Bakshi, said that many of these engineers and other staff have given prime years of their life in serving the department.
“The Government should make a comprehensive policy for their regularization in the department recognizing their services. Their regularization will empower the Panchayats which require implementing the schemes effectively,” they said.
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The Congress leaders said that these engineers and GRSs are the basic source of implementing schemes at Panchayat level. “J&K administration must take into consideration the role played by these engineers and GRSs in successful implementation of various schemes in rural areas and formulate a policy for their regularization,” they demanded.
The Congress leaders also said the decision of the government to abolish the SHGs of engineers will only create more unemployment in J&K which is already facing the brunt of rising unemployment. “Thousands of young unemployed engineers earning their bread and butter by working through SHGs in various government departments will lose their source of livelihood due to the wrong decision of the J&K administration to abolish the SHG scheme,” they said.
“These SHGs were formed when Congress was in power in J&K in 2004 with an aim to create employment opportunities. The scheme not only provided employment to thousands of unemployed engineers, but it also contributed a great deal in the development of J&K as these engineers were technically sound to carry out developmental works,” they added.
The government must take back this anti-youth decision at the earliest, the Congress leaders demanded.
