The Union Territory administration headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday announced a slew of measures aimed at streamlining the career progression of employees engaged under the Prime Minister’s Development Package.
The Lieutenant-Governor also visited Samba and met the family members of Rajni Bala, a teacher who was killed by terrorists in Kulgam. Offering his deepest condolences to the bereaved family members, the Lt Governor said Rajni Bala was one of the most loved and admired teachers in the valley.
The Lt Governor also assured the family members of every possible support and assistance from the UT administration. The government high school, Gopalpora in Kulgam will be named after Smt. Rajni Bala. Assured her husband Rajkumar that all his demands and concerns will be resolved on priority basis.
LG Manoj Sinha also rolled out ‘Accidental Insurance Scheme’ for employees of the J&K Government. Under the scheme, Jammu & Kashmir Bank will extend free group personal insurance cover of Rs 15 lakh to all the employees.
According to a statement issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations, "the Administrative Council (AC) which met under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, Wednesday approved the scheme for promotion of PM package employees".
This will remove the bottleneck in career progression of employees appointed under the PM package. All posts under the PM Package have been re-designated as divisional level posts in Kashmir Division. The new structure will provide avenues for in-situ promotion to all PM Package employees as per eligibility and seniority.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K and Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
"The scheme envisages maintaining a separate seniority for Kashmiri Migrant employees appointed under the PM package, by respective appointing departments which will run parallel to the seniority of regular employees and will take effect from the date of appointment against the supernumerary posts under the PM Package" the statement read.
Accordingly, the Administrative Council sanctioned creation of pre-facto supernumerary posts at corresponding higher levels to pave way for timely career progression of Kashmiri Migrant employees, by reducing the supernumerary posts at lower levels in the same ratio. However, these promotions will be based on seniority and eligibility requirements as per the recruitment rules.
During the financial year 2008-09, the Prime Minister’s package was rolled out for return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Migrants to the Kashmir valley. It included various incentives like Housing, Employment, Transit Accommodations etc. The employment component of the package extended employment to 6000 eligible candidates by creating various supernumerary posts in different departments.
On Wednesday the Lt Governor also launched J&K Bank’s 'Phone Pe Loan' facility for the government employees.
The Lt Governor said that people-centric initiatives such as 'Phone Pe Loan' & 'Accidental Insurance Cover' will ensure hassle-free credit flow and social security net for employees.
The Lt Governor directed the bank to enhance the insurance amount from Rs.15 Lakh to Rs.25 Lakh from the next financial year. The policy for group accidental insurance shall cover personal accidental deaths under all circumstances including terrorism, on anytime and anywhere basis. The insurance company will be required to settle the claims within 15 working days of submission of all requisite papers.