Srinagar, Apr 24: Fire fighters in the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) Department are growing increasingly frustrated as they await long-overdue Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) that haven’t been conducted in over a decade due to alleged inefficiency of the departmental authorities and delaying tactics.
Fire fighters within the department express their distress over the absence of career progression opportunities, with no promotions granted for the past ten years.
They claim that higher officials have ignored their pleas, turning a blind eye to the issue and causing immense frustration among the workforce.
Nearly 200 Leading Firemen, who have completed mandatory firefighting courses in Nagpur, are eligible for promotion as Sub Officers, but their cases remain pending despite vacant posts, they said.
“An educated youth recruited as a firemen more than two decades ago is still working on the same post while he/she should have been a sub-officer equivalent to Inspector or even Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The situation is dire across the Union territory. Officials said three major districts of North Kashmir including and three districts of South Kashmir are being run by a single Assistant Director while each district should have been led by one Assistant Director.
“In an ideal structure, every district headquarters should have an Assistant Director, followed by a Divisional Fire Officer, Station Officer, and Sub Officer. However, even the headquarters lacks a Sub Officer,” an official said.
Several fire stations are currently being managed by selection grade firemen or Hawaldars instead of qualified Sub Officers, due to the delay in promotions, they added.
The firemen of the 2010 batch are eligible to be promoted as Selection Grade in 2020 but even after three years they are waiting for getting promoted.
The Selection Grade Firemen of 1998 batch are waiting from the past more than one decade to become a Hawaldar but they are still working as Selection grade officials.
The Hawaldars 1991 batch should have been promoted to sub officers more than a decade ago, continue to serve as Hawaldars when they should have been Divisional Fire Officers.
Officials said around 300 employees had appeared in departmental examinations for promotions in December 2021, but results are still awaited. “every year a notice is issued for holding DPC but then nobody knows the fate of those orders, we are being taken for granted”
In north Kashmir and Ganderbal district, there is only one Station Officer, who is working in an in-charge capacity and is yet to be confirmed, they said.
Official sources said the severe crisis in career progression has taken a toll on the mental health of the employees. “Even our children taunt us for stagnation as we retire in the same grade where we were recruited,” they added.
“We fail to understand that if there are posts available in the department, why are we not being promoted? We are being punished for unknown reasons?“ officials added.
“Efforts must be made to address this issue promptly, ensuring that deserving fire fighters are recognized and given the career advancement opportunities they deserve, while adequately staffing fire stations for the safety of communities they serve”.
A Deputy Director of Fire and Emergency Services, Kashmir, acknowledged the issue and said efforts are being made to address the gaps. Speaking to the Kashmir Convener, he said, “There are shortcomings and a crisis exists, but steps are being taken to mitigate it.”
Many top level Officers refused to comment over the issue while repeated attempts to talk to Director Fire and Emergency Services, proved futile.
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