No headway in Chairman’s appointment as standstill continues at JKPSC

Srinagar, Jan 7: The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) has been rendered defunct as there has been no headway in the appointment of the Chairman for the commission while the positions of members of the commission are also vacant. All the exams and other recruitment processes have been stalled in the JKPSC which is responsible for the selection of candidates for all gazetted vacancies in J&K and Ladakh.

The JKPSC has been headless since the departure of former chairman Satish Chandra on November 19, 2023.

Chandra was appointed as Chairman of JKPSC in June 2022 and as per the order, he was eligible to hold the position of chairman till he attained the age of 62 years.

The JKPSC has postponed all its exams which were slated post-November 20, 2023.

As per the last notification, the routine examinations and departmental examinations which were scheduled to be held from December 24, 2023, to January 28, 2024, were also postponed till further notice.

“Candidates in their interest, are also advised to be prepared for the exams which can be scheduled at a short notice at the discretion of the commission," reads a JKPSC notice issued on December 15.

Also, the retirement of another member of JKPSC Zubair Ahmad Raza on January 10 would further aggravate the issue. He was appointed as a member of the JKPSC in June 2020.

After his retirement, JKPSC will have only one member while the administration seems in no mood to make appointments of new members and the chairman of the commission.

“The early appointment of the new chairman and the members will help us resume all pending exams while the schedule for new exams will also be notified,” an official at JKPSC said.

He said that the repeated postponement of exams has left the aspirants aghast. They complain that the abrupt decision to cancel the exams proves costly to them and subjects them to mental disturbance.

Greater Kashmir received distressed calls from aspirants who complained that their appointment as Assistant Professors for various subjects in the Higher Education Department (HED) had been stalled owing to the superannuation of the JKPSC chairman.

The aspirants urged Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha and Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to expedite the process for the appointment of the new chairman and other members of the commission.

Earlier, Advisor to LG Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar told Greater Kashmir that the matter would be examined.

However, the JKPSC continues to remain headless to date while all the recruitment and departmental exams have been put on hold.