March 15 : Following prolonged protests by aspirants and political parties across Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) against the hiring of a tainted firm by the administration to conduct exams for government jobs, the J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) has indefinitely postponed the examination that was scheduled to begin on Thursday.
The JKSSB made the announcement on its Twitter handle late night on Tuesday, a day before the exams were scheduled to begin. It said, “It is hereby notified that the computer based examinations for various posts scheduled from 16 March 2023 to 5 April 2023 are hereby deferred till further intimation.”
The JKSSB hiring a previously blacklisted Aptech Ltd to conduct examinations for government jobs had triggered protests in Jammu, Srinagar and other places. Top officers of JKSSB initially defended Aptech but decided last night to accept the demand for a transparent system of examination and as such postponed the exams as the protests grew louder.
Aspirants and political leaders questioned the government for hiring a tainted firm for conducting the exams.
Reacting to the postponement of exams, former chief minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “Power of J&Ks youth has forced authorities to defer exams. But this is still not enough unless APTECH isn’t removed & a thorough probe ordered along with fresh exams conducted by a credible agency. Least LG admin can do after wasting precious time of J&Ks youngsters”.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah too had strongly criticised the government for hiring the tainted firm. He had tweeted; “This contract must immediately be cancelled. What is the point of black listing a company if they are going to be awarded plum contracts. This contract is even more dangerous because it puts at risk the future of scores of aspirants who rely on JKSSRB to conduct recruitment exams”.
It is worth mentioning that the examination result for police sub-inspector posts and also finance assistants were earlier cancelled amidst allegations of paper leak. Investigation into the scam has been assigned to the CBI that has rounded up several persons.
