SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) has advertised 91 posts of Assistant Registrar Cooperative Societies in different categories in the Cooperative Department. The process begins on May 16 and continues till June 17.
Candidates applying for the posts should be a domicile of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. A written examination is tentatively scheduled for October 24, 2021. The basic educational qualification is graduation, preferably holding a higher Diploma in Cooperation. For open merit candidates, the age limit is 40, 42 for PHC and 43 for RBA and other categories.
However, the notification has triggered some reaction for it allegedly violates the process of selection in vogue.
“As per the defined scheme of examination, the selection will be made on the basis of Written (75 points) followed by Viva-voce/Interview (25 points) [Total 100 Points],” a critique of the notification said. “Further, Rule 31(ii) of Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission (Business and Procedure) Rules, 2021, inter alia, provides “where the number of posts for recruitment exceeds 10 (as in present case), the number of candidates called for the oral test/interview shall be restricted to THREE TIMES the number of posts, subject to a minimum of 40.”
It adds: “It appears that the present notification violates Hon’ble Supreme Court judgement, where Supreme Court has laid down ‘when the selection process for any public recruitment comprises of written test and interview, the marks allocated for the latter cannot exceed 15 per cent.’ This has been reiterated by CAT.”
In this backdrop, the candidate further said:
“1. The allocation of marks for interview for the selection process in question may need to be reworked and downgraded, to be 15% of the total allocation, in consonance with Hon’ble Supreme Court and CAT direction.
2. The qualification clause “Graduation, preferably holding higher Diploma in Cooperation” needs further qualification/clarification as to how and to what extent shall Diploma holders be preferred? In the past we have seen litigations on the grounds of the genuineness of these kinds of Diplomas, as many tuck shops across the country award such Diploma Certificates.
3. In the given situation, it is expected 50000 students may compete in this examination. In view of 1:3 Ratio as per Rule 31(ii) of Business Rules, only 273 candidates will be called for the oral test/interview, i.e, abysmal 0.005%, which is not the case even for UPSC PT Exam. Thus, it’s only natural that the merit at the written stage will span over 2-3 marks only, leaving prospects of selection/rejection almost entirely on the Viva-voce/Interview stage, which carries 25 points. Even when we have full faith in the Commission, this default 80-90 per cent weightage assumed by the interview in the selection process may not be desirable.”
4. It if it also can be explored that selection of candidates for this post is drawn from Combined Services Exam that is also underway (with suitable modification if required) to save time, effort and resources of all stakeholders since the basic qualification for the post and the recruitment agency is same.
Thus, it’s expected that in the interest of a fair and expeditious selection process, the august Commission and concerned govt department will look into these aspects of the present Notification beforehand to ensure that the recruitment process does not go into unnecessary litigation, as we have frequently observed in past.”
