Pandit employees in Valley to be posted at secured locations by June 6

Amid a spike in selective killings of minorities in Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha has ordered that PM Package employees and other members from minority communities in Kashmir division will be posted at secured locations, and the process shall be completed by June 6.

“The L-G chaired a high-level meeting of administrative heads, and senior police officers on Wednesday where he decided that PM package employees and others from minority communities posted in Kashmir division will be immediately posted at secured locations,” a top official in the Raj Bhawan, privy to the matter, said on condition of anonymity.

“In addition to a special cell within the L-G secretariat, the general administrative department will also have a dedicated email ID for complaints and grievance redressal. There is a need to sensitise lower-rung officials in every department to take up such matter and complaints seriously and on priority. Any lapse in dealing with complaints or harassment of the PM Package and minority community employees will be dealt with strictly,” they added.

The L-G has directed that confidence-building measures be taken to ensure the employees feel safe and secure. “He also asked senior officers to visit employees to understand their concerns first-hand. District commissioners and SPs have been directed to actively monitor complaints of such employees,” said the sources.

The LG has ordered that other issues of PM package employees such as DPCs (departmental promotion committees), promotions and preparation of seniority lists must be completed within three weeks. “Further, the LG directed DCs and SSPs that they must carry out assessment of accommodation of the PM package and minority community employees. It has to be ensured that no employee works or reside in isolated areas or in a scattered manner,” said sources. Of the 6,000 posts provided for Pandit migrants under the PM Package, 5,928 are filled and 1,037 of them live in secured accommodations. Pertinently, Rajni Bala’s husband- Raj Kumar had requested the chief education officer four times to relocate the couple to a safer workplace. Bala was shot dead outsider her school in Kulgam on Tuesday.

Since January this year, 16 selective killings have taken place in the Valley sending alarm bells ringing in the security establishment. Despite repeated assurances by the L-G, the disturbing trend goes on unabated triggering panic among Pandits and non-locals in the Valley.