NC Government Rejects PDP’s Charges on Outsourcing, Challenges Mehbooba to Name ‘One Illegal Appointment’
Srinagar, June 28, KNT: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Sunday strongly rejected the People’s Democratic Party’s allegations over alleged backdoor appointments through outsourcing, asserting that all recruitments have been carried out transparently and in accordance with the existing policy inherited from the previous PDP-BJP government.
Addressing a joint press conference, Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Health Minister Sakina Itoo and Agriculture Minister Javid Ahmad Dar dismissed the allegations as baseless and challenged the PDP to identify even a single appointment made illegally by the present government.
Nasir Aslam Wani said the Omar Abdullah-led government remains committed to providing employment and has set a target of filling 40,000 posts through established recruitment agencies.
“Our recruitment process is completely transparent. We have undertaken recruitment in a phased manner through recruiting agencies, and filling 40,000 vacancies is our commitment,” he said.
Responding to the allegations regarding outsourcing, Wani said the policy was not introduced by the present government but was framed between 2015 and 2018, during the PDP-BJP regime.
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He said that prior to the introduction of the outsourcing policy, administrative departments were empowered to make seasonal appointments whenever required. According to him, that system was discontinued by the PDP government, which instead adopted outsourcing as the mechanism for engaging manpower.
“The outsourcing policy that is being questioned today is their own policy. Since assuming office, we have only followed the existing system. No new outsourcing policy has been introduced by this government,” he said.
Wani further maintained that the recruitments now being questioned had taken place before the Assembly elections and before the formation of the present government in 2024.
He accused the PDP of attempting to mislead the public by equating outsourcing with regular appointments.
“There is a clear difference between outsourcing and recruitment. Outsourcing is a temporary, need-based administrative arrangement and cannot be termed a regular appointment,” he said.
Throwing an open challenge to the opposition, Wani said the government possesses complete department-wise records and asked the PDP to point out even a single instance of an alleged backdoor appointment made by the present administration.
He also launched a counterattack, alleging that backdoor appointments had taken place during the PDP regime in institutions such as Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the Khadi and Village Industries sector, adding that those issues were conveniently being ignored.
Referring to the political developments of 2019, Wani alleged that the PDP’s decisions had resulted in Jammu and Kashmir losing its special constitutional status, statehood and being divided into two Union Territories.
Health Minister Sakina Itoo said outsourcing should not be confused with permanent government recruitment and described it as a temporary administrative arrangement adopted to meet immediate requirements.
She said the government remains committed to fulfilling its promise of providing one lakh jobs and informed that the Health Department has already referred 624 paramedical posts for recruitment, while around 400 candidates are presently undergoing CID verification.
“I want to educate the PDP that outsourcing is only an administrative arrangement and not regular government recruitment,” she said.
Agriculture Minister Javid Ahmad Dar also defended the government’s recruitment policy, stating that departments are continuously referring vacancies to the designated recruiting agencies for transparent selection.
The joint press conference was convened a day after the PDP intensified its attack on the National Conference government over outsourcing of jobs and alleged lack of transparency in the engagement process. [KNT]
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