Following Jammu and Kashmir becoming a Union Territory, several commissions had to be wound up or kept in dormancy pending reshaping and reconstituting including the prestigious Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC). While doing so, no timeline was decided for its reconstituting and prudence demanded that it should have been done as early as possible looking to the most important assignment it was handling involving the exercise of conducting examinations and interviews etc for various examinations for filling gazetted and other high key posts in Government departments. This Commission, it may be recalled, had a history of 62 years of attending to such assignments and duties like conducting civil services examinations and the like. However, it is not that the functions of the Commission were destined to be discontinued or its assignments clipped which needed to be noted. It would continue to function with the same relevance, utility and its peculiar distinction.
It is not that the JKPSC was not to function under changed constitutional and administrative status of Jammu and Kashmir but had to be reshaped in respect of appointing new Chairman and other members on the Commission. The delay or the uncertainty looming large over its reconstituting has its own repercussions in respect of causing problems to the extent of stalling process of recruitment for various positions in Government departments as also what happened to 2018 KAS results and interviews conducted by the defunct Commission last November, is not made known. Pendulum of uncertainty and absence of a clear indication of restarting it in the revised shape, keeps moving aimlessly.Winding up of the Commission had other effects as well in the shape of postponing of various examinations slated to be conducted by it. Even no Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) could be constituted by any department during the last four months since as per procedure, that requires prior approval of the Commission.
Procedural formalities, fulfilling statutory requirements, initiatives in taking decisions and allied matters in cases like the one under reference, should all normally move smoothly and with speed but status- quo- ante rules supreme with the administration. Such casual liberties could be taken in respect of other Commissions, if that was absolutely required but in respect of a sensitive Commission like JKPSC dealing with undertaking the process of recruitments, promotions and other matters pertaining to service and career related matters, needed attention on priority.
However, the ambiguity in respect of its activities peculiar to its functions post ending October 2019, more or less, seems to be over as technically it ceased to have been effective after its Chairman and other members were deemed to have held up to their positions and rendering duties only till October 31, 2019. So, any interviews etc conducted by the Commission for the posts of Assistant Professor and the Medical Assistant are deemed to be ineffective and stale. Government, on the other hand neither assuages them with advising what steps were in the pipeline for re-establishing the Commission nor taking steps of infusing the required statutory or procedural functional stamina in it. That looks bizarre, if not wholly incredible. We urge the Jammu and Kashmir Government to take an early decision in this regard and keep people, especially the ones directly effected by the uncertain fate of the JKPSC, duly informed, if not fully assured.
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