Suhail Khan
Srinagar, Sep 10: Employees of the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) continue to work without salaries for the last four months now.
Ever since the retirement of its last Executive Director, G.M. Dar on May 31, 2021, the government has stopped the payment of salaries to more than 200 employees, either working on regular cadre or contractual basis throughout the UT of J&K.
After the retirement of G M Dar, the government ordered placement of Surat Singh, as Executive Director on June 17. However, he claimed that he has no DDO powers and as such can not deliver most of the duties entrusted to his predecessors on the post.
This technically delayed the payment of salaries and wages to the institute staff, disbursement of loans to potential entrepreneurs trained by JKEDI, students pursuing different professional courses in colleges and universities in India and abroad.
Four months on, the employees have been moving from pillar to the post requesting the concerned officers in the administration to look into the matter and issue necessary directions, but the disbursement of salaries continues to be on hold.
“Our families have been suffering badly during this period. No one is understanding our problems. We don’t have money to pay the school fee of our children. And honestly speaking families of many of us have been starving, and requesting help from friends and relatives,” said an employee wishing anonymity.He alleged that the employees are being pushed to the wall.
“We have been told to attend office regularly without any fail. But on the other side no one talks about the salaries as if we are beggars. How do you expect the unpaid employees to travel and reach their places of postings when they don’t even have enough to eat or feed their families? asked another employee.
Not only the JKEDI employees, the situation has badly affected the unemployed youth who took loans from JKEDI but have received only a partial amount of the sanctioned loan facility.
“We are in the middle of nowhere. We started business activities with the first instalment of loan from JKEDI but now we have nowhere to go. We need money to buy more stock but the wait seems unending,” said Javed Ahmad (name changed), a beneficiary of one of the JKEDI schemes.
A group of students pursuing professional and technical courses in different institutes across India and abroad told the Kashmir Despatch that their careers are at stake due to non-payment of dues.
“Our files are lying with JKEDI. We got admission in different institutions only after our education loan cases were accepted by JKEDI. But now we are not able to pay our fee as JKEDI has not released any money. Our parents are not in a position to pay the college fee and this has frustrated us. We don’t know what to do,” the students said.
Though the government recently assigned the charge of Director JKEDI to Surat Singh, a JKAS officer on September 01, 2021 but he is yet to join his duties due to which the employees, unemployed youth and the students are suffering alike.
Pertinently, the institute has not been able to take up any fresh activity in absence of an HoD with Drawing and Disbursing powers to run the institute.
Despite repeated attempts by Kashmir Despatch, Surat Singh, Director JKEDI could not be contacted for his comments.
