Baramulla, Aug 26: Employees of the Sub-Divisional Agriculture Offices Sopore and Tangmarg are facing immense hardships after remaining without salaries for the past three months, as the offices have been functioning without an authorised Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO).
The crisis began after the respective Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officers (SDAOs) were attached around three months ago.
Since then, the two offices have reportedly been functioning without a designated officer authorised to draw and disburse salaries, leaving employees caught in an administrative deadlock.
With three months’ wages pending, employees said the situation has moved beyond inconvenience and has begun affecting their day-to-day lives.
Several employees said the prolonged salary delay had pushed them into severe financial distress, leaving them struggling to cover basic household expenses, pay their children’s school fees and clear mounting dues owed to local shopkeepers.
“The prolonged absence of a DDO has left us in a severe financial bind. Many of us have housing and other loans, and the salary delay is making it increasingly difficult to meet our monthly installment obligations on time,” an employee said, requesting anonymity.
Employees said all of them depend entirely on their monthly salaries to run their households, making the prolonged delay particularly difficult.
They said the uncertainty has also left them unable to plan their finances or meet commitments that cannot be postponed.
The employees have now appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Agriculture Minister Javed Ahmad Dar to intervene and resolve the issue without further delay.
They have urged the government to immediately designate an authorised officer to perform the functions of DDO for the two offices, allowing the pending salary bills to be processed and released.
