2 days before combined competitive exam, students, leaders urge J&K L-G to ease age bar

With just two days left for the Jammu and Kashmir Combined Competitive Examination (JKCCE) 2025, political parties and student groups are urging the government to grant age relaxation to aspirants, many of whom say they lost precious preparation years due to exceptional circumstances in the region.

PDP MLA Waheed Para said he has written to the J&K Lieutenant Governor after receiving numerous calls from distressed students. “The system our youth aspire to serve should stand by them, not shut them out,” he said.

The JKCCE selects candidates for three major UT-level civil services: the J&K Administrative Service, the J&K Police Service, and the J&K Accounts Service. Para said countless young aspirants have been preparing for the examination scheduled for December 7, and have been waiting for a decision on age-relaxation for months.

He said a formal proposal seeking age relaxation has already been sent to the administration, and that J&K Government has repeatedly stated that the file is complete in all respects and awaiting only final approval. “Yet no decision has been communicated. This prolonged silence has generated uncertainty and significant distress among aspirants who have held on to their hopes for a fair chance,” he said. Any further delay, he added, risks deepening the sense of exclusion among youth at a time when restoring public faith in institutions is crucial.

Para urged the L-G to grant immediate approval so that thousands of candidates can appear in the upcoming exam “with confidence and without the burden of uncertainty or perceived injustice.”

J&K People’s Conference president and Handwara MLA Sajad Lone also criticised the handling of the issue, saying the age-relaxation matter has pushed aspirants into a “confusing and exhausting maze of official claims,” unfolding in what he described as a “typical Quixotic style.”

He said candidates have been caught between conflicting statements from different offices. “The CM Office says it has sent the file to the L-G office, and the L-G office has apparently sent it back for approval of logistical costs. This circular bureaucratic impasse offers no certainty to those preparing for a career-defining examination,” Lone said.

Urging the Chief Minister to intervene, he said, “Could CM sahib please for once issue a statement from the CM office and clear any ambiguities?” Lone also pointed out that the average upper age limit in all-India open merit is 38 years, while in J&K it stands at 32.