Thaindian News

Jammu, March 20 (IANS) Main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir and two of the ruling National Conference (NC) legislators staged a sit-in and later walked out of the state assembly Saturday, demanding introduction of a bill that bans inter-district recruitment in the state.
The legislators were also objecting to the reservation of eight per cent jobs in the Kashmir Valley for the Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. They said the reservation for these candidates, when the community had no presence in the Valley, denied jobs to the local candidates.

The bill that bans inter-district recruitment is with the law and parliamentary affairs ministry. It had promised to introduce the bill in the ongoing assembly budget session in Jammu, but it has not done so till now and this has irritated the members.

“We will not allow our youths to suffer because of the reservation of jobs for the outsiders…The district posts should be filled by the candidates from the district concerned only,” National Conference legislator Kafil-ur-Rehman said before joining a sit-in in the well of the house.

He was joined by another NC legislator, Saif-ullah Mir, while all the PDP legislators present shouted slogans, demanding a ban on inter-district recruitment.

“The government should introduce the bill without any delay,” PDP’s Abdul Rehman Veeri said.

Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone did not order the eviction of the legislators as he had done two days ago when Independent legislator Abdul Rashid and PDP’s Abdul Haq Khan staged a sit-in in the well of the house.

“You hold your protest, I am not going to ask marshalls to evict you,” he said.

After the protest, the aggrieved legislators walked out of the house.

The government, according to sources in the law and parliamentary affairs ministry, has developed cold feet on the introduction of the bill, because of the opposition by the Congress, which is a partner in the ruling alliance in the state.