Ban off on J-K, N-E new jobs

As a major incentive to attract the youth in militancy-ridden states, the UPA Government has lifted the ban on fresh recruitment in health a...

As a major incentive to attract the youth in militancy-ridden states, the UPA Government has lifted the ban on fresh recruitment in health and education sectors in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states.

The Government has decided to relax the ban on additional employment imposed under a Medium Term Fiscal Restructuring Policy (MTFRP) that the states pledged for getting money from the Centre.

However, these states have been advised to cut down the unproductive expenditure in other sectors for fiscal consolidation since their public finance is already precarious.

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Under the MoU signed with the Centre in 1999, states were forbidden from creating new jobs or undertake fresh recruitment above the existing sanctioned strength for financial prudence. Vacancies were to be filled through redeployment of existing personnel.

Sources said what triggered the relaxation on the ban was a request from Manipur, which is facing an exodus of students following adverse academic environment and poor quality of education.

Last October, Manipur Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow fresh recruitment of 4,150 teachers in primary and secondary schools since education was suffering on account of low paid part-time teachers.

Early this month, the PMO informed that there would be no restriction on J-K and the northeastern states for filling up relevant posts in the two sectors.

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The measures had been ‘‘reviewed in view of importance to investments in education and health in the National Common Minimum Programme, which involve recruitment of personnel’’.

The Finance Ministry has also said that there would be no specific ban on recruitment, and all measures agreed in the MTFRP were voluntary measures.