Roll back decision to scrap J-K Bank recruitment process: NC, CPI(M) to UT Admin

The National Conference and the CPI(M) on Saturday criticised the Union Territory Administration's decision of scrapping the recruitment process of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and demanded immediate rollback of the order.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had on Thursday scrapped the recruitment process of 250 probationary officers and 1,200 banking associates that started in 2018 due to various "legal infirmities" and announced fresh recruitment on fast-track basis through the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).

Expressing dismay over the ordeal the aspirants had been going through following the scrapping of the recruitment process, the National Conference (NC) said the undue delay in the whole process has already put scores of aspirants and their families through trepidation.

"It has come as a shock to the aspirants and scores of families... Majority of the aspirants had given up their jobs elsewhere in the country to appear for the exams. Similarly, there are scores of aspirants who had taken a leave from their studies to prepare for the exams and subsequently appear in them.

"To our disappointment their uphill struggle has been turned futile by the authorities concerned. It is indeed worrisome, it is not just the aspirants only, and it is their families who are facing dejection," NC provincial secretary of Kashmir Showkat Ahmad Mir said in a statement here.

He said the entire recruitment process had already drawn slack due to undue delay in conducting interviews post the written examination.

"The authorities should have ironed out the descriptiveness rather than quashing the whole process which had already consumed much precious time of the aspirants. The youth of J&K are already going through tough times following dire unemployment and the move will indeed push them to wall," he said and urged the authorities to revoke the order scrapping the recruitment process.

Terming the UT Administration's decision as "bizarre", CPI (M) secretary Ghulam Nabi Malik said it has put the career of job aspirants in dark.

"The decision is unwarranted as the process was going on for the last almost two years. The three-phase examination was conducted during (former) Governor S P Malik's tenure, with thousands of qualified aspirants from all the regions of Jammu and Kashmir participating in it, Malik said.

He said the administration's reasons that various legal infirmities had been pointed out in the ongoing process were weird.

The reality is that the recruitment process had started and concluded under the Governor's rule and not under any political government in the erstwhile state. Those candidates, who had literally burnt the midnight oil to qualify the exam, have lost two precious years of their careers with this mindless decision, he said.

The CPI(M) secretary alleged that through overt and covert ways, the administration wants to undermine the autonomy of the premier financial institution of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The bank's autonomy has to be protected and CPI (M) demands immediate rollback of the decision. The administration must not fiddle with the autonomy of the J&K Bank. The bank is the collective asset of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, he said.