JAMMU: The mandatory requirement of knowledge of Urdu for recruitment as naib tehsildars (revenue officials) in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered uproar in the Jammu division, with J&K BJP brass meeting LG Manoj Sinha on Thursday to press for scrapping the move.The J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) issued a notification on June 9 for the recruitment of 75 naib tehsildars, with Urdu language test designated compulsory to qualify for the post.The notification has youths and organisations up in arms in the Jammu region, where students mostly study Hindi or Punjabi. Students and BJP-affiliated organisations have held protests decrying the move and accusing the Omar Abdullah government of depriving Jammu’s youths of employment opportunities.J&K BJP president Sat Sharma and leader of opposition in the assembly Sunil Sharma on Thursday called on the LG and sought his intervention. Pointing out that the UT had five official languages — Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Dogri and Urdu — they said making the knowledge of one of these languages mandatory violated the constitutional principles of equal opportunity and administrative impartiality. The move created an unfair barrier as it was disadvantageous to aspirants from the Jammu division, they stressed.BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa described the eligibility criterion as a “conspiracy to block Jammu youth from securing govt jobs”. Former deputy CM Kavinder Gupta of the BJP demanded an immediate review of the decision and called for ensuring a level playing field to all candidates, irrespective of their regional and linguistic backgrounds.Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists held a massive protest in Jammu against what they termed a discriminatory and biased provision. ABVP, too, organised protests at all district headquarters in Jammu.Lashing out at the Omar govt, head of J&K chapter of BJYM, Arun Prabhat, said: “The imposition of Urdu is a deliberate attempt to exclude deserving candidates from Jammu. Such regional discrimination will not be tolerated and we demand an immediate rollback.”A controversy over the issue in the past had prompted the J&K administration to decide in Nov 2022 that Urdu would not be mandatory for the naib tehsildar recruitment test, whenever these are held. Since then, JKSSB had not advertised any vacancies for the post or initiated the recruitment process.However, J&K Urdu Coordination Committee, Kashmir wing, had at that time expressed disappointment over the decision.
