Senior PDP leader and Member Parliament, Tariq Hameed Karra has sought a thorough probe into the revelations by a senior National Conference (NC) leader that hundreds of backdoor appointments were made in J&K Bank by the present government on the behest of the Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather.“As the charges of favouritism in appointments in JK Bank against the Finance Minister have been levelled by a senior NC leader and former Member Parliament Dr Mehboob Beg, these need to be probed thoroughly as the people have every right to know the truth,” Karra said in a statement issued to KNS, here today.He said unemployment being the major concern of every stakeholder in the State, nobody can be allowed to play with the future of educated unemployed youth by resorting to nepotism in recruitments. “By resorting to alleged backdoor appointments in J&K Bank, the State’s Finance Minister is not only promoting mediocrity in the Bank, but is striking at the very foundation of this premiere financial institution which is already under cloud because of the surfacing of various shady dealings,” he said.
Reiterating his demand for a white paper on the functioning of J&K Bank, Mr Karra said the disturbing reports appearing in a section of the press over the past few days regarding the messy state of affairs in the Bank have set the alarm bells ringing and people must know what is going on inside the Bank.He said as J&K Bank touches everybody’s skin in the State, the Government and the Bank authorities must come clean on the alarming reports of backdoor appointments, manipulating profits, massive discrimination in deposits and advances within and outside the State and deteriorating fiscal health of the Bank.“It is the responsibility of the Government and the Bank authorities to come clean with a White Paper on the issue, sooner the better,” Mr Karra said and added that not only is the State’s economy but the hard-earned money and livelihood of thousands of people in Jammu and Kashmir is closely linked with J&K Bank and any mishap in the institution could prove catastrophic for the entire State and its people.