Srinagar: With unemployment being the biggest challenge facing UT of J&K, the employing agencies of the UT are fleecing the desperate aspirants big time.
Jobs are limited, applicants are in abundance, and application fees are high, so the entire process benefits not the job seekers but the Government.
Two major recruiting agencies, Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) and Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (JKSSB), collected over Rs 82 crore as examination and application fees from job aspirants in two years, reveals the government data accessed by the news agency Kashmir News Observer.
It reveals that JKPSC collected Rs 15,00,99,000, while JKSSB collected Rs 67,44,41,800 during the period.
The government said the examination and application fees are utilised to partly meet the expenditure incurred in the recruitment process.
It said the expenditure includes administrative, technical and logistical costs, scrutiny and processing of applications, conduct of examinations, engagement of examination centres and manpower, preparation and handling of question papers, security arrangements, IT infrastructure, evaluation and declaration of results.
The government further said recruiting agencies prescribe applicable fees in accordance with relevant rules and provide concessions to specified categories wherever admissible under the prescribed provisions.
The practice, it said, is broadly consistent with that followed by national recruiting agencies such as the UPSC and SSC.
“Accordingly, the examination/application fee is not treated as a source of revenue or profit,” the government said, adding that the fee is primarily intended to partly defray the expenditure incurred by recruiting agencies in carrying out the recruitment process.
