Restoration of mobile phones makes govt staff happy

Tribune News Service
Jammu, October 15

The Kashmiri Hindu employees engaged under the Prime Minister Employment Package have heaved a sigh of relief as post-paid mobile connectivity was restored by the government after 72 days in the Valley.

Nearly 4,000 Kashmiri Pandit youth engaged under the Centrally sponsored Prime Minister Employment Package since 2010 are working in different districts of the Valley and have remained out of touch with families living in camps of Jammu.

Since August 5, when the Central Government abrogated Article 370 and Article 35-A, the employees were finding it difficult to maintain regular contact with the families who shifted out of Kashmir fearing violence like they experienced in 2016. However, a majority of the employees remained put in the respective transit camps.

“Although landlines and special PCOs were functional to some extent but it was becoming difficult to keep contact. We used to send messages through our colleagues and friends who would visit Jammu”, said Rakesh Bhat, posted in Anantnag district.

Due to the complete communication clampdown employees were not in contact with their colleagues in the Valley. “Unlike 2016 unrest when the transit camps were attacked, this time no one targeted minorities. We hope the situation remains peaceful”, said Meena Dhar, who is posted in the volatile Pulwama district. However, a major concern is the continued closure of educational institutions, which is mostly voluntarily. It has affected children of the employees studying in the Valley. They have admitted their children in local private or government schools near their transit camps.