Two days after the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit employee in Chadoora, the community members recruited under the PM package scheme Saturday claimed the scheme had failed while demanding that they should be provided secure postings.
A group of the PM package employees appointed for various supernumerary posts in 2010 and onwards who staged a protest at Press enclave Srinagar said they were “still living as deportee, unsettled, unsecured for almost 12 years in a row”. The PM package employees working in different departments across the valley said they were “feeling much worried, tensed, unsecured frustrated, dismayed. We are feeling literally dismayed and damaged as this package provided us family separation and loss of precious lives, bleak future, uncertainty, insecurity and moreover a life full of continuous visible threats, mess, miseries, worries, and humiliation with no headway”.
“PM package employment policy is completely a failed policy at all levels that has only multiplied our woes and vulnerability. We are doing our jobs at the cost of our lives where we recently witnessed a killing of PM package employee namely Rahul Bhat at Budgam under a full proof security cover as claimed by the UT Government and its authorities down the line”.
The protesting employees said the killing “sprinkled more salt on the wounds” after the killings in the month of October last year of the two teachers Supinder Kour and Deepak chand in Eidgah Srinagar. “We strictly believe it is a complete failure of administration that has resulted the toll of lives of the innocent PM package employees. With lot of false assurances / lip services that we package employees received from every government, politician & administrator for last 12 years; we are now highly disappointed and warped with only uncertainties & continuous & proved life threats,” they said, in a statement.
They said the PM package policy makers “only had a one-sided thought and vision while drafting the PM package policy which is totally in-human and a great in-justice for all of us thus violating our fundamental rights like right to live & fear free life as per our Indian constitution”.
“We feel ourselves trapped rather than in a job due to wrong & inhuman policies of the Government where there is no special flexibility in norms so to give it a humanitarian touch & thought which in turn can render some relief & comfort to hapless PM package employees who saw 32 years long gloomful (sic) life post migration. We feel ourselves children of lesser Gods”.
The protesting employees said that after joining duty under the scheme on the assurance/affirmation of Government, they “feel unfortunate as we have been deprived of our one more basic right to take care of our helpless, old and ailing parents at Jammu besides many many more un-told miseries that each of us is going through every day”.
The PM package employees demanded that the Government of India must accept in written that this rehabilitation policy has completely failed. They said the UT administration and previous elected Governments had “completed failed in providing safe and secure environment to ill fated minority employee section”.
“We request the Hon’ble LG of UT (J&K), Prime Minister of India that it is the right time to accept the ground reality and voice. We request if they are really serious about the rehabilitation policy it is the right time to initiate the first step towards rehabilitation of minority community -KP of UT (J&K) that is repeal of unconstitutional bond (in free India) that PM package employees were forced to sign at the time of joining their services for the survival and relocation “to the safest, unhazardous, terror-free places outside Kashmir division”.