1 officer suspended, another attached in J-K's Rajouri district

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district today suspended a senior officer, attached another and ordered withholding of salaries of 30 health department employees for dereliction of their duties, an official spokesman said today.

District Development Commissioner (Rajouri) Mohammad Aijaz Asad yesterday ordered suspension of the executive officer of Sunderbani municipality for his failure to attend a meeting convened by him to review the arrangements for the annual Budha Amarnath Yatra scheduled to start next month, the spokesman said.

He said the action against the officer was taken for leaving the station, despite explicit directions from the district administration against leaving the station without prior permission.

Asad ordered attachment of the block development officer (Darhal) in view of complaints of delay in MGNREGA payments against him during a public meeting on July 19, the spokesman said.

He said the BDO also skipped the meeting during review of achievements of the Rural Development Department by the DDC.

The salaries of 30 health department officials posted at the Public Health Centres and health sub-centres, which were found locked during surprise inspections by a team on July 10 and July 18, were also withheld to discourage absenteeism among the employees, the spokesman said.