Few years back, the Transparency International ranked Jammu and Kashmir second most corrupt state in India. Although the Jammu and Kashmir government always slogan zero tolerance towards corruption and emphasis more on eradication of all forms and roots of corruption by bringing a culture of transparency and accountability in the state, the transparency, accountability, probity and efficiency in the recruitment Boards in Jammu and Kashmir is far from the reality. The recruitment boards in Jammu and Kashmir like Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board have become revenue generating and merit killing boards. This is evident from the recent results of police sub inspectors declared by the same Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board as the selection process of police sub inspectors was full of fraud and transparency and accountability was nowhere because about two dozen siblings have been selected with high merit marks from a particular area of Akhnoor Jammu. It is pertinent to mention that the Jammu and Kashmir police department in the past has always done the selection of police sub inspectors in a transparent manner. It was the first time when Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board conducted the police sub inspectors’ written test examination. The results of the same examination has evoked state-wide protests after many undeserving candidates from Akhnoor area were declared meritorious and successful due to irregularities (leaking of paper). The honourable LG Manoj Sinha has taken a strong cognizance of fraud selection list and conducted a high-level committee for a probe into fraud selection list. Later the LG Manoj Sinha sir cancelled the fraud selection list after ample proof of reports submitted by the said high-level committee. The cancellation of the fraud selection list of sub inspectors by LG Manoj Sinha was hailed by the people of Jammu and Kashmir particularly educated youth as it brought a great relief to the large number of aspirants. However, the cancellation of said list equally dismayed and angered those hardworking aspirants who had qualified the examination by burning their midnight oil for years. Although, conscious citizens of the state, civil society members and hardworking aspirants who cracked the same examination favoured strict action against culprits and elimination of only illegal ones in selection list but they were against cancellation of the whole selection list because cancellation of whole selection list also raises genuine questions among conscious citizens and hardworking aspirants like if paper leak was confined to two to three dozen aspirants belonging to a particular area of Aknoor only, then what were the faults of other hard working aspirants of all other areas. What compensation or relief aggrieved aspirants would get whom qualified examination by their own hard work? Will Jammu and Kashmir service selection Board officials’ get termination, demotion or promotion due to inefficiency and corruption by ruining lives of thousands of unemployed educated youth? Will aggrieved hardworking aspirants get age relaxation for two to three years? Will Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board conduct the same examination again for highly educated unemployed youth? Will the government think over the negative impacts of cancellation of the whole selection list on the lives of genuine qualified aspirants? The highly educated aspirants’ in Jammu and Kashmir always suffered due to irregularities and corruption in the recruitment process. Recruitment boards and agencies are always at the benefit because their officials receive huge salaries for less work paid by the common people in the form of taxes. What taxpayers are getting in return from the recruitment board officials- only fraud selection lists that are killing the merit of meritorious aspirants belonging to the poor families? If we analyze selection lists released by recruitment boards for the last six years, they will definitely open Pandora boxes with immense irregularities’ and frauds. The Jammu and Kashmir public service commission has also committed many big mistakes in the past few examinations that wasted precious years of thousands of educated youth due to litigation. It is pertinent to mention that KAS 2016 posts were completed in four years. The problem of wrong answer keys, cancellation of mains examinations, digital evaluation issue, delay and postponement of mains examinations by public service commission few years ago caused extreme frustrations among serious aspirants’ and thousands of hardworking aspirants who had been preparing for a long time either crossed age limit or stopped due to mistakes committed by the Public Service Commission. What action has the government taken against its officials for their mistakes? In the union public service commission, no issue arises during the complete recruitment process and an application fee is not more than one hundred rupees. Post abrogation of article 370, The educated youth of Jammu and Kashmir have been eagerly expecting much from the government like creation of more job opportunities, reduction in unemployment rate and elimination of all forms of corruption that have fed up hardworking educated youth in particular and common people in general but unfortunately not much have been done due to rampant corruption in the state. The unemployment rate among educated youth in Jammu and Kashmir is so high that highly educated youth are now selling tea and cucumbers on roads.
Unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir has touched the new heights due to corruption in government offices. Corrupt officials in most offices have spread strong wings of corruption. Recruitment boards like service selection Board instead of providing employment to young educated and meritorious youth are now snatching their job opportunities and forcing them to held protests, go for hunger strike, suicides and even take other extreme steps due to malpractices and irregularities’. Fairless examinations by inefficient and incompetent board have shattered the dreams of thousands of genuine and hardworking aspirants’. Thousands of aspirants are now thinking of not applying for government jobs due to brazen discrepancies’, manipulation in merit lists and exorbitant application fee by the board. The frustration and anxiety level among all educated unemployed youth is very high and no tough action has been yet taken against government officials involved in irregularities, fraud and leaking of Jammu and Kashmir police sub inspectors paper. Cancelling the selection list with no action against guilty ones is only empowering and promoting corrupt officials besides adding salt to the wounds of hardworking aspirants. The youth in Jammu and Kashmir are helpless and being deprived of job opportunities due to corruption in the selection process. Lack of transparent work culture among recruitment board officials, weak enforcement of laws, lack of implementation of stringent corruption laws, lack of regular investigations, lack of coordination and cooperation among officials are a few reasons for the recent fraud list of police sub inspectors. The corruption and incompetency in Jammu and Kashmir recruitment board is making only hardworking aspirants to suffer very much for no fault of theirs. It is high time for the government to take strict action against corrupt officials’ involved in the recent fraud selection list of police sub inspectors so that hardworking educated youth and taxpayers’ huge money are saved. Let us join hands together with the government to make the Jammu and Kashmir corruption Free State.
(The author is a teacher at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwah. Views are his own)
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