BJP calls for rollback of police recruitment notice preventing west Pak refugees from applying

The Jammu and Kashmir BJP on Thursday urged the state adminstration to rollback its recent notification for recruitment of police personnel in border belts which debarred west Pakistan refugees from applying.

The party said west Pakistan refugees are part and parcel of the state's eco-system since Independence.

The police department had in July and August announced recruitment in newly-raised women and border battalions where state subject has been kept a condition, which deprives west Pakistan refugees from applying for the jobs.

"The BJP appeals to the state administration to intervene and issue suitable instructions to DGP, J&K to withdraw this notice and issue fresh notification without State Subject being a mandatory requirement," party spokesperson Brig Anil Gupta told reporters here.

 

In case of any legal lacuna, the recruitment process should be held in abeyance till October 31 and a fresh notification be issued thereafter, Brig Gupta urged.

The BJP also expressed dismay at the fact that the state subject has been kept as the main criteria for applying for the posts of constables in the woman police battalion and the border police battalion with 60 per cent reserved quota for residents of border districts.

The two battalions were sanctioned for Jammu and Kashmir divisions by the Ministry of Home Affairs as a special gesture towards border residents.

"Most of these refugees also reside in the three border districts namely Jammu, Samba and Kathua," Brig Gupta asserted.

Referring to abrogation of provisions of Article 370, he said the system "due to which brothers and sisters of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were deprived of many rights and which was a big obstacle to their development" has been done away with.

"How can any authority stick to a system that has been done away with by the Parliament of India? It appears to be an oversight, may be the notification had been prepared before this decision. In any case, it has to be rolled back and there are no two ways about it," Brig Gupta said.