Srinagar, Apr 22: (GNS) The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference MP Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi on Thursday sought transfer of 10+2 nonlocal lecturers from Ladakh to Jammu and Kashmir, saying the delayed transfer is taking a heavy toll on them.

Masoodi, according to a statement issued to news agency Global News Service (GNS), said this after meeting scores of delegations, who had called on him at his residence. He assured the visiting delegations to take up the issues concerning them at all appropriate forums. In the meantime, Masoodi was also contacted by 10+2 lecturers posted in Ladakh. The lecturers hailing from Kashmir and Jammu and have been suffering in wake of their delayed transfer back to Jammu and Kashmir from Ladakh. He has also been receiving phone calls from lecturers who are presently serving in Ladakh and awaiting their transfer orders. On account of the predicaments suffered by them, Masoodi urged the concerned higher education department to recall such lecturers back to Jammu and Kashmir, the statement reads.

Expressing his anguish over the problems faced by them, Masoodi, according to the statement said that “These lecturers have been suffering on different accounts during their four-year-long stay there. The entire lot has been confronting various health predicaments on account of the altitude of the place and separation from their loved ones. The inordinate delay in the transfer of these lecturers disregards the circular by the GAD (General administration department), which had restricted such transfers from Jammu and Kashmir to Ladakh. As such, it was mandatory for the JK administration to affect the transfer of lecturers to J&K within a year of such an order; however, that hasn’t happened due to the negligence of the education department. It is the lecturers who are suffering for no fault of theirs. It is not just them; their families are also undergoing in numerous predicaments,” he said urging the government to look into the grievances of the lecturers and ensure that they are transferred back to J&K without any further delay.

Masoodi also demanded an increase in the intake capacity of all degree colleges across Kashmir, while expressing concern over the problems faced by the students at Kokernag, Handwara, and Budgam.

Drawing the attention of the higher education department to the harassment, which the eligible students from different parts of the valley are experiencing, he said the students are being denied admission in the colleges citing limited capacity by the respective college administration.“The majority of such students come from middle-class and lower-middle-class families, which cannot afford to send their wards to private institutions inside and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

The measure will affect the academic prospects of these students. Government cannot turn a volte-face to the plight which these students are going through. I urge the concerned higher education department to increase the intake capacity to adjust more students in the graduate courses. I am hopeful that the concerned higher education department will step in and mitigate the problems faced by the eligible students,” he as per the statement added. (GNS)