The Jammu Kashmir administration has constituted a three-member committee to look into alleged irregularities in the selection process in the fire and emergency department.
Earlier, the Manoj Sinha-led admin canceled the selection list of the post of Sub Inspectors of J&K Police, Financial Accounts Assistants (FAAs) and Junior Engineers (Civil) in Jammu Kashmir due to “irregularities” in the selection process.
The Financial Commissioner (additional chief secretary), home department, will head the committee which has been asked to submit its report within one month.
About 60,000 aspirants applied for 870 posts of firemen and firemen drivers following a 2013 advertisement. As many as 14,000 were shortlisted after a physical standard test followed by a written examination by the recruitment board.
However, the interview could not be held in 2014 due to floods and the recruitment process was canceled in 2017 at the direction of the then chief minister. The candidates approached the high court which directed the government to hold the recruitment process afresh.
14,000 candidates took a physical exam in 2018, and 7,000 of them passed and showed up for the written test. An official investigating team found evidence of irregularities and widespread copying, which caused the court to order its cancellation once more.
On September 20, 2020, a new exam was given, and a selection list was published. Despite complaints from rejected candidates who claimed there had been irregularities and paper leaks, the hiring procedure was finished the next month.
After the Jammu Kashmir government cancelled the police sub-inspector recruiting process in July and turned the case over to the CBI, the demand for the annulment of the selection list in fire and emergency services gained pace.
On November 12, the CBI filed a charge sheet against 24 people, accusing them of selecting candidates prepared to pay between Rs 20 and Rs 30 lakh to pass the hiring procedure.