Has Narendra Modi’s team been able to keep pace with him in ‘Time & Initiatives’?
DAYA SAGAR
Imagine how an government employee like special police officer- SPO can survive worth attending duty/ feeding his self / looking after his children . Can there be any exploitation of a rank worst than the case of a SPO and that too by Government itself ? How can government then save the unemployed from exploitation by the private sector employers. Government has many schemes for women and children who suffer from mal nutrition but how can one imagine that a SPO and his family will not be suffering of mal nutrition ?
I am very sure the status of such like employees / youth working with government is not in the fair knowledge of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Right from day one of his taking over in May 2014 as Prime Minister of India Narendra Damodar Das Modi has been expressing publicly his first intimate concern for the cause of the economically poor/ underprivileged/under represented masses and the unemployed / under employed youth worth giving Indian people a respectable living & settlement keeping the women, unemployed youth and the senior citizens in immediate focus.
Prime Minister has always expressed that the success of his missionary spirits rests in the power of the “young” India (Skill India Mission 28082014 Skill Development in Youth, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao 12012015, Shaadi Shagun Yojana Launched: 16 August 2020 , NISHTHA Teachers Training Program 18 July 2020 , National Nutrition Mission Launched: 8 March 2018 , PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, 26 March 2020 Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan , Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) Launched: 2008-09 , National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) Launched: 19 August 2016 Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) Launched: June 2015 and like ) and his believing that Indian people, particularly the Indian youth, do not want permanent economic props from the government but believe in respectable living through self efforts and hence Prime Minister has been advocating for generation of employment for the educated as well as uneducated youth through skill improvement, self employment and employment through organised private sector/ public sector ( in addition to government jobs) where there is no undue exploitation of the individuals seeking opportunity/ job worth respectable survival.
As far as the financial inputs to be sanctioned, released and ordered directly or indirectly by the government for supporting any proposals & services as may be required in common cause the Prime Minister at his level has always been found responding with extra pace, particularly where the youth is the beneficiary. But still we may find many needy youth ( qualified/ skilled) being exploited out of their economic emergencies even by the government departments by making them to work on reduced wages / inferior terms of employment as daily rate workers / consolidated salary basis / contractual employee even at places at 30 % of the regular salary nominated for a particular post of a public utility job vacancy that in a way may have to stay as a regular service job. Some where the wages paid are as low as Rs.6000 per month like is paid to those who are recruited in J&K police department as Special Police Officers (SPOs) who would be paid just Rs.18000/ pm consolidated only after 15 years of service as SPO. Imagine the agony and the financial handicaps with which a youth appointed as SPO & his family may be living. Going by the style of pay commissions of past and the way DA is released every six month the minimum salary in constable grade may go up by another 2 to 3 times.
What is the level of unemployment could well be seen from the facts like (i) those in secure government services who frame recruitment policies expect that one employed @ Rs.6000 per month (Rs.200 per day)would be still there for 15 years waiting to get Rs.18000/ pm (ii) it was reported in media on 01-12-2019 quoting J&K government sources that 77,641 candidates had applied for 5,199 vacancies of Special Police Officers (consolidated wages of Rs.6000/ pm for first three years ) which included 51,047 youths from Jammu region and 26,594 youth from Kashmir valley.
Those who structure drafts of such like recruitment policies at their level are found looking for them increase in dearness pay ( DA ) even when they are getting basic salary of more than 125000 or so per month with allowances like DA ( presently 31% on basic pay w.e.f 01-01-2022), HRA,TA, CEA, CHSA, CCA etc. Surely the Prime Minister may not be suitably apprised of the plight of such like needy youth and his/her family who are exploited for their economic compulsions and that too by the government .
It is not out of place to mention here that the Kashmiri migrants who are being paid cash relief upto Rs.13000 per month / family in addition to other material support have recently demanded that their cash relief should be increased to Rs.25000/ pm ( which is surely duly increased cost of living ) and some political leaders are also issuing statements in their favour for increasing cash relief from Rs.13000 to Rs.20000/pm. Imagine the plight of a government employee in these hard times who is being paid only Rs.6000/pm and has to also remain present on duty for the day. May be superior police officers too are for increasing the salary of the SPOs but such policy matters are processed at administrative department levels.
Had Modi been properly informed by his ‘advisors’ he would have surely not allowed any such recruitment policies for implementation and in case anyone pleads that such proposals were drafted due to financial limitation Modi would have instead considered even doing away with the provision of allowances for regular employees in part for all or after some level.
Such type of exploitation in addition to making the living very difficult is also sure to affect the commitment of the employee towards rendering the services. There may be many more such categories that need immediate attention of the Prime Minister. Much time has been lost hoping that the concerned ministries would make corrections at their level. The opposition parties are too week and if at all someone points out some deficiencies they are suppressed as political rivalries. So political colleagues of Modi instead of devoting ‘all’ their energies in simply praising Modi better work on ground to execute truthfully wills and pious intentions of Prime Minister. Non political organisations / individuals too should render feedback support to PM.
There is also the case of the so often talked about Daily Rate Worker ( also called daily wagers) in J&K Govt departments like PHE/PDD/PWD etc who are so often quoted , particularly after 1996, as 50000 in number or so by almost all political parties whenever one is out of power but they do not make the number zero when get opportunity to be in power. It can be discussed at some other occasion.
(The Author is Sr Journalist & leading scribe J&K affairs dayasagr45@yahoo.com).