Jammu aspirants, political parties irked over Urdu test for naib tehsildar selection

A major controversy has erupted following the Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to include Urdu as a compulsory subject in the recently notified Naib Tehsildar recruitment examination. Aspirants from the Jammu region, along with several political parties, have strongly criticised the move, calling it discriminatory against the predominantly Hindi and Dogri speaking population of Jammu.

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According to the notification issued on June 9 by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), candidates shortlisted on the basis of marks obtained in the written test will be required to appear for an additional examination to assess their “working knowledge of Urdu”, which will be of a qualifying nature only.

Many aspirants from Jammu have decried the decision, arguing that it unfairly disadvantages those who do not know Urdu. After the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Dogri, Kashmiri, and Hindi were added to the list of official languages of J&K, alongside English and Urdu, which were already in place in the erstwhile state.

Rohin Gupta, an aspirant for the Naib Tehsildar post, said, “JKSSB’s mandatory requirement of Urdu for the post is not only discriminatory but also raises questions about the Central government’s commitment to integrating the youth of the Union Territory into the mainstream.”

Sensing that the issue could snowball into a larger controversy and potentially alienate its core vote bank, senior BJP leaders met with the Lt Governor on Thursday. Sunil Sharma, Leader of the Opposition in the J&K Legislative Assembly, along with UT BJP chief Sat Sharma, called on the L-G at Raj Bhawan and requested his intervention.

Sharma emphasised that mandating working knowledge of a single language, given that J&K now has five official languages, “violates constitutional principles of equal opportunity and administrative neutrality.” He said the move creates an unfair barrier, particularly for aspirants from the Jammu division.

Meanwhile, Manish Sahni, president of the J&K unit of Shiv Sena (UBT), also criticised the inclusion of Urdu as a qualifying subject in the JKSSB exam. “Aspirants with knowledge of any of the five official languages should be allowed to participate. Urdu cannot be the deciding factor in a competitive examination,” he said.

The examination will consist of two papers. Paper I will test general knowledge, IT awareness, mental ability, and reasoning skills, while Paper II will assess candidates’ working knowledge of Urdu.

According to the notification, candidates in the Open Category will need to score at least 40 percent overall, while those from reserved categories must achieve a minimum of 35 percent in both reading and writing components of the Urdu test. The submission of online applications will begin on June 16.