Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services Officers Association has hailed the Finance Minister, Dr Haseeb Drabu for presenting an employee-friendly budget which has been acclaimed by the whole employee fraternity of the State.“We are equally grateful to the Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti for initiating various employee-friendly measures over the past three years,” Mr Waseem Raja, spokesman of the KAS Officers Association said in a statement.He said the acknowledgement of the Finance Minister that this Government has received excellent cooperation and support from the employees and his expression of gratitude towards government employees in this behalf is really a heartening gesture and an assertion that the Government is sincere in addressing the problems of every section of the employees.“The KAS Officers Association expresses gratefulness to the Government for considering extension of 'Assured Career Progression Scheme' for Gazetted Officers of those services/departments which, until now, have not been covered under the scheme and are facing stagnation in promotions,” he said and added that the KAS Officers who are worst sufferers on this account, and are facing stagnation at various levels, are hopeful that the Government will take positive, tangible steps in this direction.The KAS Association has also hailed the announcement regarding implementation of 7th Pay Commission Recommendations for employees of the State government.
It also welcomed the decision to increase mandate of the 'Pay Committee' which, in addition to recommending revised pay structure for employees, shall now be mandated to examine various pay anomalies in different departments and address the same during the course of implementation of the 7th Pay Commission Recommendations.Besides, the announcement of creation of new housing colonies for Government employees and an expected investment of Rs 500 crore for this project has been widely acclaimed by all Government employees and has provided a sigh of relief to a huge number of government officers/officials moving with the annual Durbar move to Srinagar & Jammu, he said.The KAS Association hopes that the government will continue with this positive, pro-employee stance. It believes that such positive gestures will surely bring an upsurge in the motivation level of the employees who will be more determined to work with renewed zest and commitment towards implementation of the policies and programmes of the Government, he said.