Jobless Youth Seek Removal Of Upper Qualification Bar

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- With the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) advertising around 2,800 Class IV vacancies, a growing demand has emerged from unemployed educated youth to remove the maximum educational qualification limit for such posts.

Under the existing rules, candidates applying for Class IV posts must have passed matriculation but cannot possess qualifications higher than 10+2.

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The upper qualification limit was prescribed through SRO-99 of 2008, issued on April 7, 2008, during the PDP-Congress government led by Ghulam Nabi Azad.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Section 124 of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir and in suppression of all rules/orders pertaining to the recruitment of Class IV posts, the Governor hereby directs that the minimum and maximum qualification for appointment to Class IV posts under direct recruitment shall be matriculation and 10+2, respectively,” the notification stated.

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The qualification restriction was retained under the Appointment to Class-IV (Special Recruitment) Rules issued in 2020 during Central rule in the Union Territory.

“The Board shall invite applications for the said posts from persons who are domiciles of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and are within the prescribed age and possess the minimum and maximum qualification as prescribed in notification SRO-99 of 2008,” reads S.O. 184 issued by the General Administration Department on June 4, 2020.

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The existing rule has left tens of thousands of graduates and other highly qualified unemployed youth ineligible for Class IV recruitment.

Official data cited in the report shows that more than 25,000 students graduate annually from colleges and universities across J&K, while thousands more complete postgraduate, professional and technical courses each year.

According to figures presented by the J&K Government in the Assembly last year, graduates and postgraduates account for around one-third of the total registered unemployed youth in the Union Territory.

The figures include 66,628 unemployed graduates and 47,114 postgraduates.

The youth demanding removal of the upper qualification bar argue that candidates with higher educational qualifications should not be automatically excluded from Class IV recruitment, particularly amid limited employment opportunities.

Ladakh Removes Qualification Cap

The issue has also gained attention after the Union Territory of Ladakh recently removed the maximum educational qualification bar for Class IV posts.

The development has further strengthened demands among unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir for a similar change in the recruitment rules.

The demand comes as the JKSSB has opened recruitment for around 2,800 Class IV posts, once again bringing the qualification restriction into focus.

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