SRINAGAR, OCT 7: The All Minority Employees Association of Kashmir (AMEAK) has sought immediate reconsideration of two provisions in the undertaking affidavit prescribed for handing over Transit Accommodation in Kashmir Valley to eligible PM Package employees, arguing that the existing conditions could adversely affect employees who already have family accommodation in Jammu or face genuine housing difficulties after retirement.
In a representation submitted to the Commissioner, Relief & Rehabilitation Organisation, J&K, today, AMEAK specifically raised objections to Clause 6 and Clause 8 of the prescribed affidavit, seeking amendments that it said would better reflect the ground realities faced by PM Package employees who have served for years in the Valley.
The association has objected to Clause 6, which stipulates that an employee or his/her spouse should not already possess Government accommodation anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir. AMEAK pointed out that a significant number of PM Package employees have been allotted Transit Accommodation in Jammu where their families reside, while the employees themselves require accommodation at their respective places of posting in Kashmir.
According to the association, treating possession of accommodation in Jammu as a disqualification for accommodation in Kashmir would fail to distinguish between family residence and the employee’s place of duty. It has therefore urged the Relief & Rehabilitation Organisation to restrict the condition to Government or Transit Accommodation within Kashmir Valley, so that possession of accommodation in Jammu does not automatically result in denial, cancellation or withholding of accommodation at the place of posting in Kashmir.
AMEAK has also sought modification of Clause 8, which requires employees to vacate the allotted accommodation immediately upon retirement or cessation of government service. The association argued that many PM Package employees have spent their entire professional careers in Kashmir, with their families, children’s education and other essential arrangements established in the Valley.
The association contended that immediate eviction upon retirement could create serious residential hardship for employees who may not have any alternative accommodation in Kashmir after decades of service. It has consequently proposed either a reasonable post-retirement retention period or a mechanism under which accommodation could be retained in cases involving genuine hardship, subject to appropriate scrutiny and rules.
AMEAK has urged the Relief & Rehabilitation Organisation to issue necessary amendments or clarifications after sympathetic and practical consideration of the concerns raised by the employees.
The representation effectively seeks a distinction between government accommodation held for family purposes in Jammu and accommodation required for official posting in Kashmir, while simultaneously seeking a humane housing safeguard for PM Package employees at the end of their service. The association maintained that such modifications would address genuine practical difficulties without undermining the broader purpose of the Transit Accommodation policy.
