Admn laxity in issuing Dogra certificate costs youth dear

Fail to get relaxation in jobs in paramilitary forces

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, March 5

Bureaucratic wrangling over a file concerning the Dogra certificate means hundreds of local youth have failed to land jobs in the paramilitary forces — the CRPF, SSB, NSG, BSF, CISF and ITBP.

The file has been shuttling between the office of the Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM), Dhar, and the Department of Personnel, Punjab, for the past three years.

In June 2017, SDMs of the area had stopped issuing the certificate claiming they needed “some clarifications”.

The Dogra certificate enabled local youth, a majority of whom are short, relaxation in height for recruitment to the paramilitary forces. The certificate was issued to youth hailing from the Mukerian, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar, Sujanpur, Bhoa, Pathanot and Dhar, considered the Dogra belt.

Maggar Singh, president of the Kandi Vikas Morcha, said: “Ever since SDMs stopped issuing the certificate, hundreds of youth have been made to sit at their homes. Recruitment drives are held regularly, but Dogra youth cannot get jobs. The irony is inescapable as the area is known for its fair share of servicemen and ex-servicemen. Every village has at least a dozen of youth working in the forces. After 2017, this came to a grinding halt. In the past three years, not even a single boy has got employment in the absence of the certificate.”

Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira said things had been put on hold for the want of clarifications. “Hundreds of families who have migrated to other places over the years were excluded. Why cannot such families get the benefit? These are the clarifications that we have sought. Once we get the nod from the department, the process of issuing the documents will be initiated immediately. It is just a matter of time,” he said.

State Congress chief Sunil Jakhar had taken up the matter with the state government after the morcha and unemployed youth approached him. He made some headway, but his interest waned once he lost the parliamentary elections last year.

Sujanpur MLA Dinesh Babbu said he had met officials and expressed displeasure at the development.

“Officers told me that the department was not responding to the queries put up by local officials. I told them the youth were suffering for no fault of theirs following which they assured me that the process would be expedited. However, things have refused to move. I will now meet DC Khaira next week,” Babbu said, adding unemployment was increasing due to the stalemate.