Srinagar, Sep 16 (NVI): Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone on Wednesday questioned the regional representation in the latest recruitment to the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) and J&K Accounts (Gazetted) Service, saying only 10 of the 55 selected candidates were from the Kashmir Valley.
Lone raised the issue ahead of the upcoming session of the J&K Legislative Assembly and said the figures showed a disparity between the Valley’s population share and its representation among the latest recruits.
In a post on X, Lone said Kashmir accounts for around 56 per cent of the population but its candidates constituted about 18 per cent of the 55 appointments.
The government had on Tuesday handed over appointment orders to 55 candidates selected through the Combined Competitive Examination, comprising 28 Junior Scale JKAS officers and 27 Accounts officers.
Lone also questioned Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s participation in the appointment ceremony, saying the chief minister should have stayed away from distributing the appointment orders.
He alleged that the existing reservation framework was leading to the marginalisation of people from the Kashmir Valley and described it as a form of “recruitment apartheid”.
Lone further said the reservation changes proposed by the elected government would not substantially alter the regional representation, claiming the Valley’s share could rise only to around 19 per cent even if the proposal is approved.
The Peoples Conference chief said he would raise the matter in the Assembly through appropriate legislative devices.
“I wish and hope that we together, across party lines, are able to highlight the severity of this issue,” he said, calling for the matter to be discussed “explicitly and unambiguously” in the House.
The figures and interpretation cited by Lone were part of his political criticism of the recruitment and reservation framework.—(NVI)
