Srinagar, May 29: Charging the previous National Conference government with breeding nepotism in recruitments, ruling People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti today said the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir is formulating a comprehensive and transparent recruitment policy. Mehbooba said the Congress-PDP government would make the recruitment process absolutely transparent so that only the deserving get their due.

The government is exploring various alternative options also to provide jobs to the educated unemployed youth, she said addressing a workers' meet in Baramulla.

She said a task force has already been set up by the Centre following announcement by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee regarding recruitment of one lakh educated youth from the state in Central government offices and banks during the next two years.

Referring to the challenge thrown by NC president Omar Abdullah to the Congress-PDP government to lift ban on recruitments, Mehbooba said: "The NC president should ask his own father what mess he has put the state in."

"It was the NC government which signed an MoU with the Centre banning recruitment to all the government departments in the state," she charged.

Moreover, she said, records speak for themselves about how many relatives of NC ministers and leaders have been appointed during the past six years.

Mehbooba said the present government has provided jobs to around 2000 youth during the past six months under compassionate grounds, who were otherwise made to run from pillar to the post for the past six years.

Bureau Report