Expressing anguish over "unabated gross malpractices" committed over years in appointment of casual assignees in Radio Kashmir, CBS Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan Kendra, a Parliamentary Panel has sought creation of a robust mechanism to foster transparency and for stopping irregularites.
In a report which was tabled in the Parliament today, the Standing Committee on Labour has also recommended that casual assignees who have rendered decades of service, including in times of insurgency, should either be adjusted against existing vacancies or some posts should be created for them.
In its report, the panel said that it had come across some "disquieting aspects" pertaining to Radio Kashmir, Commercial Broadcasting Station (CBS), Kashmir and DD Kendra Srinagar.
These include, "opaque procedure and gross malpractices in the appointment of casual assignees, exploitation of casual workers, lack of uniform policies in regularisation of the casual announcers, artists or workers," disparities in payment of wages for similar roles among others, the panel said in its report.
The panel, which is headed by Dr Virendra Kumar, said that though the Information and Broadcasting ministry and Prasad Bharati had initiated certain measures following their suggestions after a study visit to Srinagar, nothing beyond concrete assurances has come up.
The committee said the causal workers had at times taken risks, with one of them even losing his life in a terrorist attack, but were not regularised even after over 20 years of service despite such assurances.
It is a matter of serious concern that no specific procedure for booking of casuals was ever followed nor any records were maintained regarding the selection of such casuals, it added.
