1446 Paramedic Positions: High Court Asks SSB to Make Regular Selections

SRINAGAR: Dismissing petitions filed by paramedics serving the Health Department on an academic arrangement basis, a division bench of the high court has asked the Services Selection Board (SSB) to go ahead with the selection process of the 1446 positions on a regular basis.

In order to manage the staff-deficient department, the government engaged paramedics on an academic arrangement basis for one year. The “service” was extendable up to a maximum of four years on a year-on-year basis.

Later on September 19, 2013, it was made extendable up to six years. The extension was based on “good performance and conduct” or till selection or promotion was made according to the recruitment rules, whichever was earlier.

In 2021, the government recruiter, JK Services Selection Board an advertisement notification for filling up the 1446 posts of paramedical staff on regular basis. This led the candidates serving the department for many years to approach the court.

After many hearings, a number of petitions were clubbed together and the case was decided by a division bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Kumar and M A Chowdhary. The decision admitted that the positions they are holding have been made by a committee, a statutory selection body, so they are not backdoor appointees.

“Though, there is nothing on record to demonstrate that selection of the writ petitioners was pursuant to a selection process but from a reading of the 2009 Rules, in particular Rule-6, we find that there was a proper committee constituted for making selection and, therefore, we presume that appointment of the writ petitioners is not a backdoor appointment,” the judgement delivered by the division bench reads. “However, the fact remains that if such appointments, which are made purely as a temporary measure, are regularized and the persons selected are substantively appointed against the posts held by them, it would definitely violate Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution.”