Sharda Lal
Agriculture Production Department (APD) of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has once again taken the renewed initiative to settle more than 30 years old vexed issue of the Seniority of Agriculture Officers. It is a welcome step provided the umpteen issues are settled this time for good. Earlier in 2010, a smaller committee was constituted with the same objective, but couldn't reach any satisfactory conclusion.
Attempts in the past to resolve the issue have generally succumbed to one or the other warring factions or individuals, who besides other measures have time and again knocked at the doors of Hon'ble High Court and Hon'ble Supreme Court for legal/ constitutional remedies. The issue has remained dragging for so long just as it was seen recently in the unfortunate ‘Nirbhaya Case'. It is hoped that the efforts of the Government this time shall be final and the outcome whatsoever, shall be logical, judicious, fair to all and implemented.
On several occasions in the past, this newspaper has raised the issue of ad-hoc adjustments in the gazetted cadre of Agriculture Department and expressed the urgency to resolve the issue at the earliest in order to boost the morale of this vital and invaluable technical cadre that will ultimately facilitate more efficient and more effective delivery of service to the farming community. Moreover, delivery of justice will give much awaited comfort, relief and peace of mind to the officers who have retired from the Department after putting in more than thirty years of service in the same Class without getting any deserving promotion. Many officers have even left this world after a long wait for the dues.
The proactive approach of the Principal Secretary to Government Agriculture Production Department, Shri Navin K. Choudhary, IAS in the matter, immediately after taking over the charge of the Department has rekindled the hopes amongst the agriculture technocrats. A five member committee has been constituted by the UT Government on 01-05-2020 comprising of Director Agriculture Jammu Shri Inderjeet Singh, Additional Secretary Agriculture Production Department Shri Babu Ram, Director Horticulture Jammu Shri Ram Sewak, headed by Director Command Area Development Jammu Mrs. Smita Sethi as Chairperson, all from Jammu Kashmir Administrative Service and assisted by the Under Secretary Agriculture Production Department Mrs. Kritika Raina for recommendations.
It is appreciable that no one from amongst the technical cadres of Agriculture Directorates, either from Jammu, Kashmir or Ladakh has been included in the five member committee as they are themselves the party/ beneficiary/ litigant in the matter and shall have a bias one way or the other.
With the passage of such a long time since the new Service Rules (gazetted) of the Department were notified in June 1988, the government too must have deviated on its part, sometimes in the interest of exigency and sometimes out of other reasons. In this connection, it is appreciable that the newly formed Committee has given time to the aggrieved individuals/groups (not more than 3 individuals per group) / stakeholders to provide fair opportunity of being heard from 18th to 26th May 2020 (constituting 5 working days) from 11-30 a.m. to 2-30 p.m. in the office of the Directorate of Command Area Development, Jammu, personally or through e-mail (dircadjmu@gmail.com) by observing all protocols under Covid-19. Aggrieved officers of Kashmir division as well as officers of far-flung areas of Jammu division have been asked that they may represent through video conferencing from the office of Director of Agriculture Kashmir and District Officers of Jammu Division from the offices of the District Development Commissioner concerned by seeking prior appointment on phone number 0191-2503397/ 0191-2505144 in the Conference Hall of Director Agriculture Jammu on 19th May 2020 from 11-30 a.m. onwards
It is hoped that the retired and serving officers of the Department shall adopt the rational, legal and result oriented attitude in the matter and the Committee too shall do so to take a comprehensive, quick and final view in the matter and settle the issue once for all.
