Minister for Agriculture Production, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Javid Ahmad Dar, today distributed appointment letters among the newly recruited Junior Assistants of the Rural Development Department (RDD) during a ceremony held at the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar.

Addressing a longstanding shortage of clerical staff that had affected the field offices since 2021, the Minister handed over appointment orders to 35 candidates from the Kashmir division.

The appointment ceremony was held in presence of Secretary, RDD & Panchayati Raj, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, Director RDD Kashmir, Shabir Hussain Bhat and Director Panchayati Raj, Sham Lal.

A total of 122 Junior Assistants have been appointed across Jammu and Kashmir through the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB).

Of these, 62 have been posted in the Kashmir division, 55 in the Jammu division and 5 in the Rural Sanitation Department. The structured recruitment included 1 post at the UT level, 2 each for the divisional cadres and the rest have been distributed among the districts.

Congratulating the appointees, Javid Ahmad Dar highlighted their vital role in improving the department’s performance. “This batch of Junior Assistants will serve as a much-needed boost to the department, strengthening the public service delivery system across the rural areas,” he said.

He said that these appointments will expedite file processing, enhance grievance redressal, support implementation of welfare schemes and reduce the workload in the Block Development Offices (BDOs).

The Secretary noted that the new clerical staff would significantly improve the operational efficiency of rural governance structures in the Union Territory.

The appointments have come in continuation of last year’s recruitment drive, where 1,395 Panchayat Secretaries were inducted into the RDD&PR department, strengthening the administrative infrastructure at the Panchayat level.