Srinagar, Oct 07: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the long-awaited recruitment rules were “almost ready” and had been given final shape, while stating that the expansion of his Council of Ministers would be decided after the upcoming GST Council meeting in Delhi.
Speaking to reporters here, the Chief Minister said the recruitment rules had been finalised, but certain contradictions and legal ambiguities in the earlier draft were still being resolved.
“We do not want to rush the process only to face counterproductive results later,” he said, expressing confidence that the rules would be notified soon after the remaining issues were settled.
The delay in notifying recruitment rules has been a subject of widespread concern among job aspirants across Jammu and Kashmir, who have been waiting for clarity on eligibility, procedure and timelines for various government posts.
On the expansion of his Council of Ministers, Omar Abdullah said consultations with National Conference president Farooq Abdullah would be held after his return from Delhi.
He said the expansion had been planned after the Assembly session, which has now concluded, but the upcoming GST Council meeting in Delhi would delay the process.
The Chief Minister’s remarks come amid speculation over the much-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the transfer of several bureaucrats by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha earlier in the day, Omar Abdullah said the postings must have been made after due consideration and that his government would work with the officers in their new departments.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi completing 25 years in public life, Omar Abdullah congratulated him, saying repeated electoral victories over such a long period indicated that he must have “done something right” for people to continue voting for him.
On the proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Chief Minister expressed hope that ongoing proceedings in the Supreme Court would make it difficult to delete genuine voters.
He said Jammu and Kashmir had already been “a victim” of what he termed electoral “tampering” through the delimitation exercise and feared a similar attempt could be made through voter-list revision. The SIR exercise is yet to be undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I hope the Supreme Court proceedings, particularly those concerning Form 6, will make it harder to remove genuine voters from electoral rolls,” he said.
CM Abdullah also defended the INDIA bloc’s ongoing campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, questioning the BJP’s dismissal of allegations against the Election Commission as “fabricated”.
“If it were fabricated, why don’t they take action against the newspaper through which all this came to light?” he asked, referring to reports published by a national daily.
He said the INDIA bloc’s month-long programme of protests was decided at a recent meeting in Delhi, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announcing the schedule.
