SRINAGAR: Widespread calls have erupted across Jammu and Kashmir demanding a 10-year one-time relaxation in the upper age limit for upcoming recruitment in Jammu and Kashmir Bank, with educated unemployed youth, student bodies, and prominent political leaders urging the management to raise the eligibility ceiling from 30 to 40 years for Open Merit candidates.
The groundswell follows J&K Bank’s recent advertisement notifying 1,356 operational vacancies—comprising 323 Probationary Officers (POs) and 1,033 Banking Associates—wherein the general category upper age limit was restricted to 30 years. Disaffected aspirants pointed out that prolonged, multi-year recruitment freezes had rendered thousands ineligible despite continuous exam preparations.
Lending influential governmental support to the aspirants’ cause, Cabinet Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakeena Itoo championed the plea, appealing directly to the bank management and financial authorities to extend the cut-off to 40 years.
“Dreams should not have an expiry date! Thousands of J&K Bank aspirants have lost precious years waiting for recruitment drives that were repeatedly delayed. They must not be penalised for administrative lags beyond their control,” Itoo asserted in a public statement, adding that local youth deserve an equitable opportunity to compete.
Echoing the demand, Pulwama legislator Waheed-ur-Rehman Para questioned the rationale behind capping bank recruitment eligibility at 30 years when general state recruitment examinations administered by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) routinely set the upper age threshold at 40 years for Open Merit candidates. Para also raised questions regarding the equitable application of the UT’s revised reservation framework.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association submitted an urgent memorandum to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, seeking executive intervention on humanitarian grounds.
“We have invested years in diligent preparation, bearing the emotional and economic strain of prolonged recruitment pauses,” said Tauseef Ahmad, an aspirant representing a delegation in Srinagar. “We are not seeking reserved quotas or backdoor entries—only the fundamental right to sit for the competitive examination on an equal footing.”
The J&K Bank management has taken note of the representations, though an official determination regarding amendment to the recruitment notification has yet to be formally issued.
Published by True Roots Media