GOC Leh Sub Area, mentally challenged Smt Tabassum & legal assistants call on Hon’ble Lt Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd).

GOC Leh Sub Area, mentally challenged Smt Tabassum & legal assistants call on Hon’ble Lt Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd)
Leh, Feb 29, 2024: GOC, Leh Sub Area, Major General SS Bakshi called on the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd), at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat. Commissioner/Secretary, Labour, Shri Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, IRS; Secretary to the HLG, Shri Ravinder Kumar, IAS and Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Shri Santosh Sukhadeve, IAS, were also in the meeting.
Maj Gen SS Bakshi apprised the HLG of the casual labourers engaged by the Army for various works. He informed the HLG that the Army pays a maximum sum of Rs 26,000, including Rs 8000 for high-altitude area, to the casual labourers. He also informed about the disparity in the pay between the Army and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) due to which the casual labourers are not willing to work at the rate paid by the Army thereby impacting the availability of labourers to the Army.
Maj Gen SS Bakshi requested the HLG to take up the matter with the Ministry of Defence. He raised the need to increase the rate of unskilled labourers fixed by UT Administration at Rs 454 per day as per the rate given by the Centre, which is fixed at Rs 504 per day. He also raised the need to make the Labour Committee functional so that regular meetings could be held to fix the rates of the labourers in Ladakh.
The HLG stated that immediate action should be taken which is within the mandate of the UT Administration. He asked Maj Gen SS Bakshi to take up the issue which can be resolved at the UT level with the concerned officials of the UT Administration on a fast-track mode before the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect. He also asked Maj Gen SS Bakshi to prepare three letters for the concerned officials of Ministry of Defence.
Smt Dilnawaz Tabassum, a mentally challenged person from Chuchot Gongma, called on the HLG at the LG Secretariat. Commissioner/Secretary, Shri Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, IRS; Secretary to the HLG, Shri Ravinder Kumar, IAS and Deputy Commissioner Leh, Shri Santosh Sukhadeve, IAS, were also in the meeting.
Smt Tabassum informed the HLG that her father passed away due to cancer due to which her family has fallen on bad days. She also informed that she and her mother don’t have any jobs and the house they currently reside in is also incomplete.
Smt Tabassum requested the HLG to provide her with a small piece of land where she could grow vegetables and sell them in the market to earn her and her mother’s livelihood.
The HLG asked DC Leh to provide all possible assistance to Smt Tabassum. He also asked him to contact Smt Tabasuum with a Self-Help Group (SHG) so that she can learn some skills to make her livelihood. He directed the DC Leh that there should be no delay in providing necessary assistance to Smt Tabassum.
A delegation comprising Legal Assistants led by Smt Stanzin Ladol called on the HLG at the LG Secretariat. Advisor to HLG, Dr Pawan Kotwal, IAS; Principal Secretary, Shri Sanjeev Khirwar, IAS; Commissioner/Secretary, Shri Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, IRS; Commissioner/Secretary, Law, Shri Fayaz Ahmed Sheikh, JKAS; Secretary to the HLG, Shri Ravinder Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Shri Michael D’Souza, IAS and Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Shri Santosh Sukhadeve, IAS, were also in the meeting.
Smt Ladol informed the HLG that three of them are currently working as Legal Assistants. She also informed about the case filed by the recently recruited Legal Assistants through Staff Selection Commission regarding the need to fix the seniority of legal assistants based on district cadre and UT cadre for their promotion to the post of Public Law Officer and Senior Legal Assistants.
Advisor to the HLG, Dr Pawan Kotwal, informed the HLG that all the posts of law, finance and planning departments are UT-level posts and not district-level posts and termed the case filed by the recently recruited legal assistants, who are currently on two years of probation period, as baseless.
The HLG asked Shri Fayaz Sheikh to serve the recently recruited legal assistants with showcase notice and ask them the reason for putting a wrong representation knowing it to be such.