J&K Recruitments: Uphold Merit, Secure Future

Jammu and Kashmir, like other parts of the country, is facing a burgeoning problem of unemployment. Youth continue to aspire for employment opportunities, especially in the government sector where such opportunities are not forthcoming. According to Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir, on a steady rise, stands at a staggering 18.3 per cent, even as the national average, stands at around eight per cent now. As per the ministry, during 2021-22, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) in Jammu and Kashmir was 22.8 percent for graduate persons of age 15 years. During 2022-23, the estimated unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir was 18.3 for graduates aged 15 years.

In the Parliament, the J&K government has said it has introduced several initiatives to bring down unemployment, implementing various self-employment schemes through different departments, and providing subsidised loans for the establishment of sustainable income generation units. But all this doesn’t fructify on the ground, with youth continuing to suffer for want of employment avenues.

There are an estimated 12,264 positions lying vacant in various government departments for many years in Jammu and Kashmir, as per official data, with the state authorities often asserting that these shall be filled on a fast-track basis. Though the authorities say they have filled as many as 31,830 vacancies in various government departments through multiple recruitment drives since the year 2019, there are thousands of posts vacant which is raising a lot of anxiety among educated unemployed youth of Jammu and Kashmir. The vacant positions are mainly available in health, Jal Shakti, social welfare, rural development department and other departments.

There are multiple reasons why these vacancies need to be filled up on a priority basis. But more than that, it is important to reassure youth of Jammu and Kashmir, especially applicants for these posts, about the strong measures that have been taken to ensure fair and transparent recruitments. The issue of transparent recruitments is a cause of serious concern in Jammu and Kashmir, where questions have often been raised on so many recruitments which have come under the cloud.

Many unemployed educated youth believe it is high time to end reservations and provide a level playing field to all the candidates aspiring for different jobs. Referring to NEET exams, youth believe that without reservation quotas, admission to MBBS programs would become more competitive, as seats would be open to all candidates strictly based on NEET scores, rather than being set aside for specific groups.

"If the reservation of seats is removed from medical colleges, then the medical stream will receive a much better quality of students, as the seats will finally go to the deserved and not the reserved," said one of the aspirants.

An aspirant from Jammu said that the government should not violate the 50 percent cap on reservation citing that it has caused depression to the aspirants competing under the Open Merit category. "We should not play politics over reservation and ruin the career of a deserving lot," the aspirant said.

Youth believe that all the recruitments should be fair and transparent while providing equal opportunities to all the aspirants including open merit and the reserved categories as well.

"In contemporary times, it seems there is no space for the candidates who fall in the general or open merit category. We have no space in any competitive exams. The government should reconsider its decision on continuing the reservation rules which has slaughtered the OM candidates," an aspirant said. He said no candidate from general category has been selected in most of the Government medical colleges due to the new reservation rules which gives lion's share to the category students leaving the general category students to fend for themselves.

The new reservation policy has raised major concerns of 'injustice' among open merit candidates as they believe that the government's decision to grant over half of the available positions to candidates from reserved categories only intensifies the competition for open merit aspirants and therefore they feel immensely sidelined.

The aspirant argue that while the goal of providing opportunities to historically marginalised communities was valid but reserving more than 50 percent of the seats unfairly diminishes the chances of general category aspirants to secure the government jobs.

The Open Merit candidates criticise the new reservation rules saying that the new rules undermine the concept of equal opportunity by heavily favoring candidates from reserved categories.

"There should be some affirmative action in it as it should not come at the cost of merit-based selection. With more than 50 percent of the seats reserved, open merit candidates are left with a very small share of opportunities," the aspirants said.

The aspirants feel "demoralised" saying that despite working hard and excelling academically, they find no space for jobs.

The open merit candidates demand for a review of the policy so that a balanced approach is adopted in the recruitment processes.

"We understand that the government has to address the social inequality but at the same time it should be ensured that merit is not entirely sacrificed. A reservation policy that goes beyond 50 percent of the total seats is excessive and harms the prospects of many deserving candidates," another aggrieved  aspirant said.

The aspirants reject the new reservation rules saying that it disregards the merit-based system which otherwise should form the backbone of any recruitment processes carried by the government.

"The new reservation policy does not take into account the individual struggles of many open merit candidates. There are hundreds and thousands of such candidates who do not fall in any reserved category but belong to economically weaker sections," the aspirant said.

To conclude, Jammu and Kashmir is in need of a robust recruitment policy which caters to all its aspects, including pre-job examinations, balanced reservations, and taking into consideration feedback from educated unemployed youth to incorporate their concerns. A holistic recruitment policy would enable fast-tracking merit-based recruitments, thus leaving out any scope for lapses which have a great potential to cause anxiety and unrest among youth.

Fair recruitments aren't merely beneficial for individual aspirants, these benefit the society at large. The governance structures requires highly competent workforce which addresses newer needs and challenges facing the society. It cannot be done by way of encouraging or promoting mediocrity, which is a curse on any democratic society aspiring to progress and prosper. Youth of J&K need to be reassured of fully transparent recruitment processesR to enable them to look for a better and brighter future.