by Babra Wani
SRINAGAR: Frustration is growing among job aspirants across Jammu and Kashmir as the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) continues to delay the finalisation of recruitment lists for posts advertised nearly five years ago. Many candidates, who have cleared every stage of the process, now feel abandoned by the system that once promised them opportunity.
Sayar, a resident of Kulgam, described the recruitment as “an unending cycle of delays and false assurances.” He recalled, “Our notification was number 6 of 2020. The exam was finally conducted on March 18, 2025, and the results were declared on May 27. Document verification was completed by June 10. JKSSB had promised that the process would be completed within a month or two, but it is now almost November, four months later, and our provisional list has not even been released.”
According to him, hundreds of qualified candidates are stuck in uncertainty. “They have conducted around fifteen or sixteen exams, but the provisional lists have not come out for any of them. Even if the list is released today, there is a thirty-day objection period before the final list. Then the final list goes to the Secretariat for approval, and that alone takes two more months,” he explained, his voice reflecting the exhaustion of waiting.
Sayar fears that the process might extend well into the next year. “At this pace, our joining will not happen before March 2026. They are not doing it as fast as possible. It feels like they have completely forgotten about us,” he said.
Disillusionment and Bureaucratic Drift
The recurring delays have deepened concerns about transparency and accountability within JKSSB. Over recent years, the Board has been under criticism for exam cancellations, procedural lapses, and doubts over fairness. For thousands of young Kashmiris like Sayar, these delays have turned hope into disillusionment.
“Maybe if our story was being heard, it would have helped,” he added quietly. His words echo in the lives of many aspirants who have built their future plans around a promise that remains unfulfilled.
Another candidate from North Kashmir’s Kupwara district described the same experience of endless waiting and confusion. “Every time we visit the JKSSB office, the same place where our document verification was done, we are given the runaround,” the aspirant said.
“One official tells us to go to a different office, another redirects us elsewhere, and in the end we are told our file is in Jammu. The chairman sits in Jammu, so we are asked to go there. It makes no sense that a candidate who appeared for the exam in Kashmir and will be posted in Kashmir has to travel all the way to Jammu for answers. It is absolutely ridiculous,” he added, his frustration evident.
Voices of the Forgotten
For many, the ordeal extends beyond lost time; it is about the erosion of trust. Saima, another aspirant, said the unfairness began soon after the exams. She recalled that the government and the officials had assured candidates that the process would be completed within a month. Yet, months have passed without progress.
She explained that the examination itself had already been delayed by five years, and even after it was finally conducted in March, candidates had been waiting another six to seven months for the final list. “These posts do not even involve large numbers of candidates,” she said. “Some have only a few applicants, and my own post has just one. Document verification was completed long ago. What more do they need? Even single-candidate posts are still pending.”
Saima said they were only asking for what was rightfully theirs. “We qualified the examination and are number one on the list for a post with only one vacancy. What further verification is required?” she asked.
Hope Turning to Despair
The collective fatigue among aspirants is giving way to anger. “As students and aspirants, we do not want to go to the Press Colony and protest,” one candidate said. “But we are being forced to think radically instead of logically. The exams are over, we did our best, we got selected, we completed document verification, what more is left? Our documents are ready, their list is ready, how long will it take? Maybe a month? But it has been four to six months now, and they cannot even release a simple final list.”
There have been no official updates. “Each time we visit, we are sent from one room to another,” another aspirant said. “When we return after ten days, as told, we are informed that there is no chairman or member present and that we should go to Jammu instead. They even mock us, saying things like, ‘You have got a job, now go get married or do housework.’ We are just aspirants asking for our rights. If one of us ever works at JKSSB tomorrow, will we also treat others the same way? Why does every student have to fight for what is already their right?”
