SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that appointing officers in the Revenue Department without knowledge of Urdu would be ineffective. He stressed the importance of basic Urdu language skills to handle revenue records, which have traditionally been maintained in Urdu.
“Ours is not an attempt to exclude anyone from the department. Revenue records in Jammu and Kashmir have been in Urdu since before Independence. If we appoint officers who cannot even read these records, what will they do?” Omar said during a media interaction on the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) stay on the enforcement of a key provision in the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules. The rule mandates that candidates must possess a graduation degree with Urdu language knowledge as an essential qualification for the post of Naib Tehsildar.
Omar said that JKAS and IAS officers lacking Urdu knowledge are being given time to learn the language. “Appointing Revenue officers without Urdu knowledge is futile. It is better to develop a policy allowing them some months or a year to acquire basic Urdu skills. If they do not know Urdu, they will not be able to read revenue records effectively,” he explained.
In another development, the Chief Minister welcomed a letter from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. He expressed gratitude and said that such a step had been long awaited.
“I appreciate Kharge and Rahul for raising the issue of statehood restoration. We haven’t asked for anything that hasn’t already been promised. These promises were made in Parliament, in the Supreme Court, and during public meetings—that statehood would be restored at the earliest. I believe the time for delay has passed, and it should be restored now,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister projected that the ongoing Amarnath Yatra would witness over 3.5 lakh pilgrims this year. “Despite concerns that pilgrimages would decline after the Pahalgam attack, large numbers are visiting Kashmir, and the Yatra is proceeding smoothly. We expect the number to easily cross 3.5 lakh,” he added. (KNO)
