Aazan Manzoor
Srinagar, Dec 02: Amid growing anxiety among JKAS aspirants, rulling National Conference Chief Spokesperson and MLA Tanvir Sadiq on Tuesday said that the Chief Minister has approved the much-awaited age relaxation proposal.
In a post on X, Tanvir Sadiq as per news agency JKNS wrote that the “@CM_JnK’s Secretariat has confirmed to me that Chief Minister @OmarAbdullah Sb has approved and forwarded the age relaxation.”
He added that the proposal has now been sent to the Raj Bhawan for its consent.
Meanwhile, aspirants said they are still awaiting a formal written order from the government, despite months of verbal assurances from top officials, including the Chief Minister and senior bureaucrats.
Aspirants said the matter has remained unresolved since June, when the process for the 2025 recruitment cycle began. They said they met officials multiple times in Srinagar and Jammu and were repeatedly assured that the age criteria would be relaxed for the upcoming JKAS examination.
“In June, officials in Srinagar told us the relaxation would be granted. Later in Jammu, senior officers again assured us it would be done soon,” an aspirant said.
He added that the last assurance came on November 4, when a senior government functionary told them the proposal would be placed before the cabinet within two days.
The aspirants said they also met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently, who told them that if his advisor had already committed to the relaxation, he would not deny it. “The CM advised us to stay focused on our studies and assured us the issue would be resolved.”
Aspirants also claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) delayed issuing admit cards for nearly two days after receiving verbal inputs that a decision might be announced. But with no directive from the government, the Commission finally released the admit cards on Monday evening. The JKAS preliminary examination is scheduled for December 7.
Currently, the upper age limit is 32 years for open category candidates and 37 for reserved categories. Aspirants are demanding that the limit be increased to 37 for open category and 40 for reserved categories, as allowed in previous relaxations. (JKNS)
