Salaries of 1000 govt employees in J&K withheld due to missing appointment orders

SRINAGAR, NOV 02: In a surprising turn of events, the salaries of approximately 1000 employees from various departments of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have been withheld due to the absence of their initial appointment orders on the J&K Human Resource Management System (JKHRMS).
Among these employees are two Judges of the Subordinate Judiciary and IFS (Indian Forest Service) and JKAS (Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service) officers.

The J&K Human Resource Management System (JKHRMS), which was launched on October 18, 2022, by Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, is designed to provide a unified dashboard for government employees to access critical service-related information, including postings, promotions, monthly salary slips, income tax details, GPF (General Provident Fund) statements, and SLI (State Life Insurance) subscription.
However, a recent assessment of the JKHRMS revealed that the initial appointment orders for these 1000 employees had not been uploaded to the system, resulting in the withholding of their salaries. Remarkably, despite this issue persisting for over a year, affected employees have failed to provide the necessary documents to support their claims.
To address this situation, the General Administration Department has communicated with concerned Administrative Secretaries, requesting that the requisite information, along with relevant documents and recommendations, be submitted within 15 days. The documents needed to verify the authenticity of these appointments include authenticated service book entries, SSB/PSC (Service Selection Board/Public Service Commission) recommendations, muster roll entries, and references from the Archives Department.
The General Administration Department’s communication stated, “In order to establish the genuineness of the appointment of these employees, documents like authenticated first page of the service book indicating relevant entries regarding initial appointment, recommendation of SSB/PSC, entries in muster roll, or in allied record regarding payment of wages before regularization, reference of appointment in record, entries regarding initial appointment in pay acquaintance roll/allied record, and reference of Archives Department are critical in support of the claim of the employees in whose case initial appointment order is not available.”
The responsibility for scrutinizing and verifying the entries in service books of these employees, and making recommendations for salary release, lies with a committee headed by the Principal Secretary to the Government, Finance Department. This committee will ensure the genuineness and accuracy of the records before forwarding appropriate recommendations to the respective Administrative Departments for salary release.
The committee comprises members such as the Director General of Accounts and Treasuries, a representative from the General Administration Department, a representative from the ARI and Trainings Department, and a representative from the Department of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, all not below the rank of Additional Secretary.
This development has raised significant concerns among the affected employees and government officials. The 15-day timeline has added pressure on both employees and administrative authorities to resolve this issue promptly, ensuring that the affected workers receive their long-overdue salaries.