ZT NEWS NETWORK
Srinagar: Unemployed Fisheries Professionals of Jammu and Kashmir have requested the administration to address their concerns and grievances regarding the creation of job opportunities in the Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries Department.
In a detailed memorandum shared with Ziraat Times, the Unemployed Fisheries Professionals Forum Jammu and Kashmir has made the following submissions to J&K government.
The Bachelor of Fisheries Science (B.F.Sc) degree programme, a 4 years ICAR recognized professional degree programme, offered by State and Central Agriculture Universities, is the highest level UG degree programme in the field of Fisheries, with no other equivalent counterpart in India. Moreover, this degree programme is the only approved Bachelor level degree programme by the University Grant Commission (UGC) (Registered No. DL (N)-04/0007/2003—05 dated July 5th, 2014) in the field of fisheries science under the Agricultural and its Allied disciplines in the Country and its standard is accredited by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
a. It is to bring in our cognizance that more than 300 students of Jammu and Kashmir have completed their B.F.Sc./M.F.Sc (graduation/post-graduation) course to date, with about 50 students graduating every year from SKUAST-Kashmir alone. Unfortunately, despite completing the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs we have been always neglected with almost no employment opportunities offered at all by the Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department. Barring a very few Non-Gazetted cadre positions of Fisheries Development Assistant and Deputy Inspector (Adv. 03 of 2017), Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department have not notified any of vacancies/posts for recruitment in the last two decades. The recruitment over the last decade, as per records, stands at the lowest when compared to fisheries departments of other states and union territories of the country. This comes down heavily on the life and career of fisheries accomplishers, excluding them despite their worth.
b. Also, we would like to highlight the subject of promotional rules of different posts under the Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department. In the present scenario, most of the Non-B.F.Sc. graduates (non-professionals) who are presently working at various positions of Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department are being promoted to higher positions after certain years of service. Many of the gazetted posts have been fixed for recruitment by the method of promotion with zero new recruitments. This is creating a sense of injustice for the fisheries professionals (graduates as well as post-graduates) who, after completion of four to six years of degree courses, are not able to get direct recruitment for most of the positions. This has been firmly reflected in the Government of Jammu and Kashmir notification FST/Fish/5A/91-III published on 24-06-2009.
c. In other cadres like Fisheries Development Officer (FDO), only 20% of direct recruitment and 80% of promotions have been fixed as the method of selection. This is the massive injustice imposed on professional fisheries graduates/postgraduates and is opposite to the recruitment rules in other states and union territories of India. Furthermore, the minimum essential qualification in the department, for various specialized posts is profoundly upsetting to the professional fisheries graduates. The departmental recruitment rules declare that job-seekers from a non-fisheries background (Zoology) as well as non-professional (M.Sc. along with one-year diploma) degree holders were eligible for different posts which were expected to be marked out exclusively for B.F.Sc. (4 years) and/or M.F.Sc. Degree holders, like it, is in several other states.
d. Hundreds of Fisheries Professionals pass out from the Faculty of fisheries, (SKUAST-Kashmir) and other Central and State Agriculture Universities every year, but surprisingly the Department of Fisheries, Jammu and Kashmir offers nothing to the professional thus boosting the already large-scale unemployment in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. We request Hon’ble Lt. Governor (Mr. Girish C. Murmu), Principal Secretary to the Government, Animal/Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries Department (Mr. Navin K. Choudhary) and Mr. Mohd Amin Mir (Director Fisheries) to please look into our grievances. It is difficult to understand if the department cannot provide opportunities/jobs to the students of Fisheries of Jammu and Kashmir, what is the point of offering the courses of the subject matter in the well-established University of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir?
It is our humble request to the concerned authorities to address our issues like the creation of job opportunities in the relevant department with B.F.Sc being marked as minimum eligibility criteria for the same. We also demand amendments in the promotional rules in the department with equal emphasis to be given for direct recruitment for various posts.
