The allegations leveled against the NC Government-led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti regarding 25,000 backdoor appointments in government departments in the last 25 months are serious in nature. As the PDP leader has claimed that she has got the orders but she is deliberately not disclosing their identities is a big statement and the government should respond to come clear on the issue to regain public trust.
There are two possibilities, either these allegations are baseless and politically motivated or there is some substance in the claims. In both the cases, the government should respond positively as silence or ambiguity on such a sensitive issue will raise doubts on the credibility of the people sitting at the helm.
If the government is clean and there is no truth in the assertion made by the PDP leader, then the government must categorically refute the charges and make public the facts to prove its virtuousness. In case, there is anything fishy in the recruitment process as claimed by the PDP chief, it becomes a bounden responsibility of the government to order a transparent and impartial inquiry into the matter and prove its innocence beyond doubt. The PDP chief has also named certain other parties’ connivance in this alleged wrongdoing and therefore it becomes imperative that those entities should also clear their position to save image in the public.
Unemployment is one of the biggest issues in J&K and the youths are particularly concerned over such matters as getting a government job on merit is the dream of many in J&K. Such conflicting statements and silence of the helmsmen therefore demoralizes the genuine aspirants making it significant for the government to clear the air and bring truth to the fore without any delay.
The people have a right to know whether appointments have been made in accordance with established rules and procedures because the allegations have been leveled by none other than the former chief minister of erstwhile state of J&K, and a seasoned politician of the Union Territory. The government should act fast in the matter and respond to the charges to reestablish the faith of the people in its working. It would be better for the government to come clear on the issue sooner rather than later because the delay can have a bad impact on the credibility of those running the affairs of J&K.
