Dr. Abid

J&K’s Open Merit JKAS aspirants need two things fixed, Age limit AND Number of attempts. Not just one. From 2010 to 2021 J&K let Open Merit candidates take the exam till age 37. That got taken away in 2022. Now the demand is simple, give back what was already given for over a decade. That's what we elected the government to power so that they can undo these things. But raising the age alone isn’t enough. Right now candidates only get 6 attempts. Someone who has already used 5 to 6 attempts under the tough rules won’t benefit from a higher age limit they’ll run out of chances before the extra years even help them. Look at the same exam’s own rules, OBC, ALC and RBA candidates get 9 attempts. SC/ST candidates get unlimited attempts. Only Open Merit is stuck with just 6. That’s not fair when everyone is competing for the same seats. Now compare with other states Bihar, UP, MP, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand all allow a higher age AND unlimited attempts. Even UPSC the toughest exam in the country matches J&K’s current limit it doesn’t beat it. So J&K’s Open Merit candidates are already at the bottom nationally. This isn’t a favour. Candidates lost years because of the government’s own delays reorganisation, court cases, the 2025 mess with Raj Bhawan. They shouldn’t pay for the state’s mistakes with their own careers. Bring back age 37. Raise attempts too. 6 was never a fixed rule & it was a decision made in 2018 and it can be changed again.

KAS aspirants in J&K are facing a double whammy. On one hand a deeply flawed reservation policy. On the other hand, a harsh age cap. Before 2019 the age limit was 37 for the general category and 40+ for reserved categories. Today it is reduced to 32 with just 6 attempts. While states like UP, MP, Rajasthan and Bihar allow up to 40 years with unlimited attempts, J&K continues to restrict its youth. After years of delays and uncertainty, this is outright injustice. For God’s sake don’t punish the youth. Restore the pre-2019 age criteria. Also, J&K is the only place where we have no private sector, no corporate presence or manufacturing base and Govt is the primary source of employment. @OmarAbdullah I promise the youth will join your Marathon next time if you will solve these youth issues.