PDP in dock over ‘bias’ against Jammu

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 13

Even as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has launched a public outreach programme to connect with masses and strengthen her party’s base across the Jammu region, the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) has been put in the dock in the region following recent controversy over “discriminatory” selections.

The party’s Jammu-based leadership has been finding it difficult to face public as resentment has been brewing against them for “pushing meritorious youth of Jammu to the wall” by allegedly denying them jobs in the government sector.

The party, however, claimed that the issue of selections made by the J&K Public Service Commission (JKPSC) and J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) was discussed in the meeting of the coordination committee of the alliance partners — BJP and PDP — recently and the BJP was “very satisfied” with the working of the government.

“Some political parties are trying to score brownie points by raking up such controversies. Such issues seldom do come up in public. The matter of selections made by JKPSC was discussed in the coordination committee meeting and BJP leaders, particularly the Deputy Chief Minister, who is the chairman of the panel, was very satisfied with the working of the government,” said Tirlok Singh Bajwa, party’s senior leader and former MP.

The ground reality is, however, different. It was the outcome of resentment against the party that Vikramaditya Singh, a grandson of the last Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, resigned from the PDP in October this year. He had said it wasn’t possible for him to continue with the party which “disregarded the demands and aspirations of the Jammu region.”

“No doubt, we have been facing a daunting task to bring the people, particularly the youth into the party fold, owing to widely known discrimination against Jammu youth. Why will the youth of Jammu prefer to recognise themselves with the PDP if the government continues to maintain a Kashmir-centric approach vis-à-vis selections in government departments,” said a PDP leader, who declined to be named.

PDP’s youth leader Puneet Singh Jamwal said, “In certain pockets, there is resentment against the recent selections and this fact is also known to the party leadership. Our Chief Minister is committed to equal development and opportunities to youth and if some wrong has been done, it can be rectified in near future,” Jamwal said.

Recently, the selection list of junior assistants at the Civil Secretariat, released by the JKSSB, drew widespread criticism as 27 of the total 28 posts in the open category went to candidates from Kashmir, while eight out of the total nine in the Reserved Backward Area category were also given to candidates from Kashmir. Similarly, the “biased” selections made by JKPSC too have put the PDP’s Jammu leadership in a tight spot.