Srinagar: Dozens of unemployed Horticulture Graduates today staged protests against what they termed ‘faulty’ eligibility criteria for various government posts advertised by JK Services Selection Board and the state Public Service Commission. (JKPSC).
President of the All J&K Horticulture Unemployed Graduates Amir Bashir Wani told INS that JKPSC has kept MSC Horticulture as the eligibility criteria for various posts in the Horticulture department while for all others disciplines the basic eligibility criteria is graduation in the concerned discipline which is ‘sheer injustice’.
“Similar is the case with the State SSB which advertised Non gazetted posts and has kept Diploma in Horticulture as criteria for various posts lying vacant it instead of graduation in the concerned discipline,” Amir said.
“We are caught between devil and deep sea,” Amir remarked.
Another protester Waseem Yousuf said that BSC Horticulture course was started way back in 2007 at Sher-e- Kashmir Agricultural University of Science and Technology (SKUAST- K) and till date none of the 700 students passed out from the University has been engaged by the government.
“It is ironic that year 2017 has been declared as horticulture year by the state government but it has no plans to engage trained and qualified human resource,” Waseem complained.
Another protester Shafia Liyaqat Nehvi said that she is in state of deep trauma as she feels that her ‘degrees are worthless in terms of providing suitable employment opportunities’.
The protesters warned that in case their grievances are not addressed in ‘near future they will burn their degrees in front of the Civil Secretariat’.
