The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday cancelled the recruitment of finance accounts assistants and junior engineers and recommended a CBI probe into the selection process following complaints that the recruitment process was not fair. Th administration has assured the aspirants that those responsible for alleged discrepancies will not be spared and there won’t be any compromise on merit and that fresh recruitment process for FAAs and JE Civil will start soon. Finance accounts assistant (FAA) aspirants have been protesting for the last few weeks here against the possible quashing of the merit list over alleged discrepancies.
Earlier, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha cancelled the selection of police Sub-Inspector after alleged irregularities in the recruitment process surfaced. He also ordered a CBI probe into the recruitment process. Amid allegations of large scale fraud in the selection list of police Sub-inspector posts issued by the J&K Services Selection Board, the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had said that his administration has decided to probe the matter.
The administration’s prompt reaction has been appreciated by one and all. Unemployment is the biggest challenge that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been face to face with. The UT administration has umpteenth times made assertions that it is tackling the issue and creating jobs for jobless. While the spirit is appreciable, the controversies like the one surrounding recent recruitments are worrisome and indicative of the fact that there some rot within the system that needs immediate attention of the powers that be. The government has to ensure that while making openings for job opportunities, merit is not bulldozed by influence and corruption. That said, if any irregularities are found in the recruitment lists, quashing the entire process impacts the meritorious ones and some of the aspirants may even cross the required age limit before the process is started again. Now that the administration has cancelled the entire list, it is therefore advisable that the fresh recruitment process is started immediately without any further delay. Besides, the frauds committed in these recruitment lists have traumatized the aspirants and thus they need to be given a fresh change without wasting any further times.
It is also necessary that those responsible for the discrepancies are named and shamed. They should be booked under relevant laws and be given exemplary punishment so that no one, in authority, ever tries to play with the future of J&K’s educated youth. While the UT administration is making claims regarding making the UT corruption free, such instances are worrying and need to be dealt with seriously. Time bound probes should be held and the findings should be shared with general public and the aspirants so that their faith in the system is restored.
