Bilal Bashir Bhat
Indicating disciplinary action against government employees, the J&K Finance Department has issued a fresh advisory stating that all government employees of Jammu and Kashmir fall under Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees (conduct) rules 1971, hence no scope of being associated with media or articulating opinion pieces in newspapers.
According to rule 13, it is prohibited for a government employee to be associated with TV, radio, and media or write a letter to a newspaper either by his/her name or anonymously, pseudonymous.
Pertinently, a citizen by the name of Syed Riaz recently drew the attention of the government to the grievance website in this regard in which it was said that some government employees were violating government laws by participating in various radio, TV programs and writing articles to many newspapers and news portals.
The latest advisory, a copy of which is in the possession of Onlykashmir[dot]in, states that according to the law, no government employee may write an article or correspondence for any newspaper in his own name, secretly or in someone else’s name.
The advisory issued by Mr. Mahesh Dass, Director General Accounts and Treasuries Finance Department, dated 08/09/2021 asked the employees to refrain from such activities or else strict action would be taken.
