SRINAGAR: The Omar Abdullah government, facing opposition criticism over alleged backdoor appointments through outsourcing, on Sunday rejected claims that 25,000 illegal recruitments had been made, asserting that all appointments in government departments are carried out strictly on the basis of merit.
The government maintained that outsourcing is only a temporary administrative arrangement to address manpower shortages and blamed the PDP for introducing the outsourcing framework during its tenure.
Rejecting the government's clarification, the PDP demanded details of the recruitment process.
Ministers Sakina Itoo and Javed Ahmad Dar, along with Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, addressed a joint press conference and dismissed allegations of 25,000 backdoor appointments.
Wani said recruitment in government departments was being conducted through transparent, merit-based processes by designated recruitment agencies.
Claiming that the government had not made a single illegal appointment, he said, "If anyone has proof, we challenge them to bring it before the public."
He, however, distinguished between regular recruitment and outsourcing, reiterating that outsourcing was only a temporary arrangement to meet urgent manpower requirements beyond the sanctioned strength of departments.
Opposition parties, including the BJP, PDP and Peoples Conference, have accused the Omar Abdullah government of making 25,000 backdoor appointments through outsourcing during its nearly two years in office.
According to official figures, around 22,454 positions have been outsourced across nearly 29 departments in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.
Education Minister Sakina Itoo said outsourcing should not be misconstrued as government recruitment.
"It is only a temporary administrative arrangement to meet additional workload in departments," she said, adding that outsourced workers are engaged for specific projects or essential services such as sanitation, security, driving and technical work. She noted that such employees are not entitled to pension, grade pay or other benefits available to permanent government staff.
Itoo alleged that the outsourcing framework was introduced between 2015 and 2018 during the PDP's tenure through policy changes and SRO-520, replacing the earlier system of seasonal and casual engagements.
She said outsourcing agencies are selected through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal via a transparent tendering process and that recent renewals merely continued an existing policy.
The PDP, however, rejected the government's explanation and questioned why hundreds of crores of rupees were being spent on outsourcing jobs to private companies.
"Our simple questions to the J&K Government: Why are hundreds of crores being spent on outsourcing jobs to private companies? Who selected these companies and what was the selection process? On what basis are people being recruited without a transparent merit-based process? Will the government make these contracts and recruitment details public?" PDP leader Iltija Mufti posted on X.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has accused the Omar Abdullah government of making 25,000 backdoor appointments in two years and claimed she possesses government orders to support the allegation.
Peoples Conference chairman and MLA Sajjad Lone said the National Conference had promised in its manifesto to create one lakh government jobs but had instead converted 25,000 government positions into private jobs through outsourcing.
J&K BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma also accused the National Conference-led government of legitimising the outsourcing system and facilitating backdoor appointments in government departments.