SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Sunday strongly rejected the Peoples Democratic Party’s allegations that the National Conference-led administration had made 25,000 backdoor appointments, asserting that the outsourcing system at the centre of the controversy was introduced during the PDP-led government and was being wrongly portrayed as regular government recruitment.
Addressing a joint press conference, Advisor to Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Health and Education Minister Sakina Itoo and Minister Javed Ahmad Dar said the government had convened the briefing to place the facts before the public amid what they described as a sustained campaign of misinformation regarding recruitment and outsourcing.
Opening the briefing, Wani said the Omar Abdullah-led government had ushered in a transparent, merit-based and legally compliant recruitment system, marking a clear departure from what he described as an era of paper leaks, cancelled examinations and allegations of corruption.
He said the government was committed to filling nearly 40,000 vacancies through constitutional recruitment agencies and reiterated that all permanent appointments would continue to be made only through the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) and the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Responding to the PDP’s allegations of 25,000 backdoor appointments, Wani maintained that the present administration had not made a single illegal appointment and was merely implementing legally valid outsourcing arrangements inherited from previous governments.
Tracing the evolution of the outsourcing framework, Wani said government departments had the authority to engage seasonal workers, casual labourers and daily wagers directly before 2015. However, he said those powers were withdrawn during the PDP-BJP coalition government, which introduced third-party outsourcing through subsequent policy decisions and administrative orders.
“Outsourcing is not recruitment,” Wani said, explaining that contractual manpower is engaged temporarily to bridge operational gaps while permanent vacancies are processed through recruitment agencies.
He cited the example of hospitals where outsourced technicians are engaged to operate newly installed diagnostic equipment until regular appointments are made, saying such arrangements ensure that public services are not disrupted.
Wani said outsourced manpower is hired through transparent tendering processes on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal and challenged the opposition to produce evidence of even a single illegal appointment made by the present government.
He further accused the PDP of attempting to divert public attention from recruitment controversies during its own tenure, particularly those relating to Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the Jammu and Kashmir Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB), which he said had come under the scrutiny of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Health and Education Minister Sakina Itoo reiterated the government’s commitment to providing one lakh jobs to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that every permanent appointment under the National Conference government would be made strictly through constitutional recruitment agencies on the basis of merit.
She said the government had already referred 724 lecturer posts in the School Education Department, 626 paramedical vacancies in the Health Department and around 900 doctor posts, with nearly 500 doctors already deployed while the remaining candidates were completing mandatory verification formalities.
Clarifying the distinction between outsourcing and government employment, Itoo said outsourced workers neither receive pension, grade pay, travel allowance nor any other civil service benefits and cannot be equated with permanent government employees.
She said outsourced engagements are largely linked to Centrally Sponsored Schemes and are intended only to ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential public services until regular appointments are made.
Displaying official documents during the briefing, Itoo traced the outsourcing policy to administrative decisions taken between 2015 and 2018, including the issuance of SRO-520 in 2017 and its subsequent incorporation into the governance framework. She alleged that the opposition was now creating unnecessary panic by branding the very system it had introduced as evidence of wrongdoing by the present government.
Escalating her attack on the PDP, Itoo accused the opposition of attempting to rewrite history while ignoring what she described as recruitment irregularities during its own tenure. Referring to appointments in Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the Jammu and Kashmir Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB), she alleged that recruitment processes had favoured relatives, political associates and members of influential families instead of deserving candidates.
She said the alleged irregular appointments in J&K Bank and KVIB had subsequently come under the scanner of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, asserting that investigations were initiated because established recruitment norms were allegedly bypassed.
“Those who are today accusing this government of backdoor appointments should first answer for the recruitment scandals that took place during their own tenure,” Itoo said.
She also dismissed allegations that the recruitment process for Vocational Trainers under Samagra Shiksha had remained open for only five minutes, describing the claim as completely false.
Producing official records, Itoo said the recruitment advertisement had been published in leading newspapers and that the online application portal remained open for 40 days, attracting more than 50,000 applications from unemployed youth across Jammu and Kashmir.
She said the overwhelming response itself disproved allegations of manipulation and assured that selections would be made strictly on merit without any political interference.
Responding to concerns over the continued engagement of temporary staff, Itoo said the government was simultaneously working to unfreeze sanctioned posts so that departments could gradually move away from dependence on contractual manpower and strengthen regular recruitment.
Minister Javed Ahmad Dar said outsourced manpower engaged by various departments was financed under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, including Samagra Shiksha, Mission Vatsalya, the Integrated Child Protection Scheme and the Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme.
He said such engagements fully complied with the General Financial Rules (GFR), 2017, and followed transparent procurement procedures prescribed by the Government of India.
Dar said the government had already referred more than 1,178 permanent posts in Agriculture, Horticulture and allied sectors to recruitment agencies. He also highlighted the recruitment of 154 Veterinary Doctors, besides appointments of Panchayat Secretaries and Accounts Officers through regular recruitment channels.
Replying to questions regarding the appointment of relatives of politicians in universities, Dar clarified that universities are autonomous institutions governed by independent recruitment bodies and that the government has no role in their selection process.
“If an individual qualifies through an open and competitive selection process, that person cannot be denied employment merely because he or she happens to be related to a politician,” he said.
The ministers also said the government was examining the possibility of creating a unified digital portal to monitor outsourced manpower engaged under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes, saying such a mechanism would further enhance transparency and eliminate public confusion regarding contractual engagements.
