Srinagar, May 17 -- Clerical-level employees, including storekeepers and multi-tasking staff, are allegedly exerting undue influence over the functioning of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department in several districts of Kashmir, raising serious concerns about administrative control and transparency, sources said.

Many of these employees have remained posted at the same locations for years, helping them develop a stronghold within the department, according to civil society members and officials spoken to by news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS).

The prolonged stay of such staff has weakened administrative control and affected the normal functioning of the department, they claimed.

Assistant Directors and Tehsil Supply...