The Kashmir Scenario Exclusive
Despite the exposure of gross irregularities in promotions of officers of Agriculture Department by Verghese Samuel, Financial Commissioner Home Department, after the state government, a few years back appointed him as inquiry officer to probe the fraudulent practices in promotions in Agriculture Production Department, the concerned authorities have time and again displayed major failures to check the scandal related to promotions and seniority in Agriculture Department. It seems that Agriculture Department did only a cosmetic exercise and presented its earlier frauds merely in a new shape without bothering to go to the root cause of the scandal.
According to the minutes of the DPC/PSC meeting held on 01.01.2013, copy of which is lying with The Kashmir Scenario total sanctioned strength of AEOs (Agriculture Extension Officers) in the department was 649 and 414 officers were in position. As per government order no: 14- Agri of 2005 dated 17/01/2005, 16 were on technical post and 30 were on SCA- Eng (Soil Conservation Asst. Engineering). So the total vacancies of AEO’s and equivalent as on 03/06/1988 were 189.
On the other hand Govt. order no: 10-Agri 0f 2002 dated 25/10/2002 shows that total sanctioned strength of AEOs in the department was 625 and 467 officers were in position while there were 158 vacancies on the same date 03/06/1988.
Going through the records, The Kashmir Scenario learnt that the J&K Agriculture Gazetted Service was earlier governed by a set of Recruitment Rules notified by the Government of J&K vide SRO-134 of 1978 (Rules of 1978) which provided for 100% Direct Recruitment to the entry level post through J&K Public Service Commission. However, on 02.06.1988 the Rules of 1978 were repealed by a new set of Recruitment Rules notified vide SRO-179 of 1988 (Rules of 1988). However, in gross violation of Recruitment Rules of 1978 as well as Rules of 1988, about 200 VEWs were illegally promoted in 1985 & 1988. More importantly these promotions were made on the non-existent or non-vacant posts.
When the voices rose against the Agriculture Department’s scam in which they illegally promoted 200 VEWs as AEO’s, the said department then started to obscure the fraud by manipulating fake vacancy list. The vacancy list was formulated tactically to overshadow their fraudulent orders. Some other documents also unearthed their treacherous tactics in which they have mentioned that the number of Director Agriculture (class I) under cadre strength Schedule-I is only 2 but the number of officers in position as on 02/06/1988 (initial) was 4. So the excess elevation in this class was shown by extra 2 officers. Likewise, the number of Joint Director Agriculture (class II) is 5 but they have mentioned the number of the said class officers in position as 8, again with the excess of 3 officers. The other classes from Deputy Director to AEOs (class III to class VII) belongs to the same tactics with varying numbers, that resulted in 139 vacancies in which 63 of them were shown by the excess elevation. The actual vacancies in class VII was 76 as on 02/06/1988 but eight officers came to be appointed by virtue of court directions on 13/06/1988, then the resulted net vacancy after their adjustment as on 14/06/1988 was 68.
The access of relevant documents to The Kashmir Scenario revealed that the Agriculture Production Department promoted 67 VEWs (Village Extension Workers) as AEOs (Agriculture Extension Officers) on 19/03/2013 vide Government Order no: 113- Agri of 2013 and they have kept 28 more promotions pending as vigilance clearance and Annual Performance Report of these candidates was awaited. These promotions were made against only 34 available vacancies in the department due to the promotee quota but the officials of the department manipulated the vacancies to help the promotees at the cost of Public Service Commission Recruited candidates and violated the Recruitment Rules and also breached the quota rule.
According to the recruitment Rules, 34 posts were referred to J&K PSC vide APD’s communication No. Agri –E/86/409 on 12.10.1988 and it was requested to also provide a wait List of 15 or more which may become available by the end of the year to avoid further reference. Therefore, the Promotee quota in 1988 does not exceed 34 and promotion of officers beyond serial number 34 in Government Order No. 113-Agri of 2013 dated 19.03.2013 must be quashed.
The aggrieved Direct Recruits alleged that the Administration is hell-bent upon trying to increase more and more vacancies for blue eyed promotee VEWs by resorting to one or the other unfair means. In order to help promotees, the concerned authorities even terminated 20 officers under Government Order no. 145/Agri of 2013 dated 05/04/2013 and also excluded 50 more officers from the Seniority list who have either left the department or expired. The said number of officers was terminated as the department alleged that they had left the department without seeking proper permission.
However, the worst part and heights of the corruption in the Agriculture Production Department is that they tampered in the seniority list. From time to time a number of seniority lists of AEOs & Equivalents were issued by the Agriculture Production Department but due to discrepancies in these seniority lists none attained the finality. In almost all of the seniority lists the promote VEWs were showered the undue benefit.
The documents shared with The Kashmir Scenario revealed that many of these candidates, who figure in the terminated list of 20 officers and 50 more others excluded from the seniority list of the years during which they were active part of the service for not seeking agriculture department permission for applying in Agriculture University, are in the seniority list of 2010 & 2002 while in the next seniority list they are not figuring anywhere. Some of their names are Masood Ahmad Shah, Nayeema Jabeen Shah, Manzoor Ahmad Rangrez, Ghulam Hassan Rather, Surinder Kumar Handoo bearing serial no’s: 8, 236, 276, 305 and 352 respectively. Some of them even were relieved by the agriculture department under relieving order number agri/e/45/gaz/99/2872-75 dated 17/05/99 but were terminated for not seeking permission of leaving the department. A noted legal expert while talking to The Kashmir Scenario said that if any officer leaves the department even without informing the department, his lien can be terminated only from the date he leaves the department, if he does not choose to come back. Under no circumstances the lien of a Government employee can be terminated from an anterior date of his leaving the department. The Agriculture department only to help the blue eyed VEWs and to shadow its previous wrongdoings is committing more and more wrongs and illegalities.
On enquiring about the scandal from the higher authorities, commissioner secretary to Government, Agriculture Production Department, Dr. Asgar Hassan Samoon said, that I am in a meeting, if you have any query come to the office and we will look into the matter.