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Recruitment delay sparks depression among JKSSB candidates

By News Desk

September 27, 2023

Aspirants of Sub Inspector posts of Jammu Kashmir Police have expressed concern over the delay in the recruitment despite LG Manoj Sinha’s assurances.

The students said that the delay in the recruitment process has led to depression and caused anguish among the aspirants of JKPSI and and JE-Civil.

In a press release, the aspirants said, the exam for JKPSI, along with two other posts, was conducted in March last year, but due to some discrepancies that were found after the conduct of exams, was consequently scrapped by the government

After the said event, a new company named “Aptech” was hired following a tendering process conducted by JKSSB for the exams to be conducted in CBT mode.

Subsequently, the exams were conducted again for JE-Civil between December 5 and 6, 2022, and JKPSI between December 7 and 20, 2022. As stated by the honorable LG in various media interactions and press briefs, these exams were conducted fairly and transparently with adequate security, which the aspirants were also witnesses to.

The process of conducting the exam was halted when the judgment of a case filed on the tendering process was pronounced on December 8, 2022, but resumed after the stay was granted by the Double Bench on December 9, 2022, with the condition that the results of JKPSI and JE-Civil wouldn’t be declared unless directed by the court.

Also, the exam key for both exams was released after the exam was conducted in December 2022.

The case, after being granted interim relief by the Double Bench of the High Court on December 9, 2022, was then reverted by the Double Bench to the Single Bench.

The entire above-mentioned scenario has resulted in the aspirants of JKPSI and JE-Civil writing the same exam twice, and they have been waiting for their results for the last 10 months. It is pertinent to mention here that a bunch of other exams were also conducted by Aptech, and the results of all have been declared except for JKPSI and JE-Civil.

Now that the judgment by the Single Bench of the High Court headed by Honorable Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi was pronounced on August 31, 2023, it has absolved JKSSB from any wrongdoings. Also, no anomalies in the conduct of exams of JKPSI and JE-Civil were found by the High Court.

Consequently, a report was expected to be submitted within the next 10 days based on which, the Chief Secretory is to convey his decision to the Secretory of JKSSB.

A ray of hope for the completion of this now-delayed recruitment was lit when the Honorable HC, in its judgment, directed the committee to submit the report within 10 days, and consequently, the Chief Secretary was given 10 days to direct JKSSB for the future course of action, but sadly, no positive development has been observed.

It also needs to be acknowledged that JKPSI is not a single-stage exam. It requires one to master one’s syllabus and then demands physical fitness, which takes time to achieve. The result is the only thing that gives clarity about how to approach things.

There are thousands of aspirants and their families whose aspirations have been held hostage due to the delay in this recruitment, and ironically, they are not even responsible for that.

The trauma of giving the same exam twice and the stress of scoring good marks again, aided by the delay in the declaration of results, has stretched the mental health of aspirants expecting a good rank in the above- mentioned exams to their breaking point.

The recruitment of JKPSI was announced on October 21, 2021, and is yet to be concluded. After about 24 months of looking at their completion, we are yet to see the results of phase- 1 of this recruitment. This sort of delay has put the aspirants under a serious financial burden.

Most of the aspirants are getting older as we speak, and since JKPSI also involves a physical endurance test, any further delay is going to hurt their physical capabilities. The aspirants are also facing financial constraints with every passing day. Hence the decision- makers requested to take the necessary steps as soon as possible so that the recruitment can move ahead and aspirants can get what they have worked hard for.