The Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision of having no oral test for posts upto and including Pay Level 5 (Rs.29200-92300) and the selection for all such posts shall be made on the basis of written test only with further stipulation that trade test/skill test wherever prescribed shall continue to be held as per the relevant recruitment rules has been hailed by one and all. In this regard the government has issued a notification wherein the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, in exercise of powers conferred by proviso to Article 309 of Constitution of India and in supersession of all rules/orders on the subject has issued these directions. This notification shall also apply to such of the selections undertaken by the recruiting agency where the written test has not been conducted on the date of publication of this notification: provided that the procedure for selection for all posts for which test has already been conducted by the recruiting agencies shall continue to be governed by the rules/orders in force on the date of advertisement.
The decision made by the government will go a long way in accelerating the process of recruitment and therefore doing away with unnecessary delays besides minimizing the chances of favoritism. People in Jammu and Kashmir have all along been skeptical about recruitment processes having a firm belief, founded or unfounded, that these processes rarely have been clean. Doing away with oral tests will make people to trust the process as in case of any doubt they can always go for rechecking of their written material whileas in the case of oral tests it was not possible.
The government, with a focus on filling nearly 10, 000 vacancies in government departments, has also approved special recruitment rules for Class-IV jobs, expediting the process and granting several benefits to the marginalised sections, including widows, daily-wagers and those who do not have any family member in government employment. The government said that the accelerated recruitment process shall be started with Class IV vacancies. The Accelerated Recruitments Committee has already identified 7052 Class-IV vacant posts at the UT, Divisional and District cadre levels in various departments of the Government. All these posts shall be filled up through a Special Recruitment Drive. The concerned departments shall place their indents to the Services Selection Board (SSB) through the General Administration Department. The SSB shall be sole agency for the Special Recruitment Drive. The public in general has hailed government’s decision of simplifying the process by cutting down all delays. In the past, the recruitment processes in Jammu and Kashmir have been marred by unnecessary delays and even recruitment on a class IV post would take years. Now that the government has decided to accelerate the recruitment process, people hope that it keeps its word and this promise doesn’t end up being as hollow as the earlier ones.
