Amid fear, Kashmiri Pandit staff seek ‘work from home’ provision

In the aftermath of the Ganderbal terror attack on Sunday that claimed the lives of seven persons, Kashmiri Pandit (KP) migrant employees working in the Valley have urged the administration to allow them to work from home till the situation came to normal.

There are over 4,000 KPs working under the government in Kashmir under the PM’s special package. These employees, who were living in Jammu, got jobs in different government departments in the Valley under a rehabilitation programme. The government had devised policies for return and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri migrants to the Valley under the PM’s packages in 2008 and 2015.

With the recent killings, the migrant employees said they were living in fear. The employees also met senior administration officials and also shot off an e-mail to the government, seeking the work from home provision.An employee leader of the community living in Srinagar said the majority of the KP employees working in the Valley were living in rented accommodations. “The government should either allow us to work from home or give relaxation so that the employee can go to their homes in Jammu till the situation improves in Kashmir,” the leader said.

A mail sent to the L-G and other senior administration officials read, “We, the employees under the PM’s Package for Rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants, working in various departments across the Valley, wish to bring to your urgent attention the deteriorating security situation in the region. The recent heinous target killings in Shopian and Sonamarg (Ganderbal) have once again plunged the Valley into a state of fear and unrest.”

The mail further read, “The threat perception has further aggravated, not only impacting our personal lives but also our ability to function efficiently in our professional environment.”

All Migrant (Displaced) Employees Association Kashmir held a meeting and appealed to the administration to take serious note of their security concerns.