F&ES Aspirants Continue With Protests, Urge LG Led Admin To Make Inquiry Report Public
Babar Rather
Srinagar, July 20 (GNS): Dozens of aspiring candidates who have applied for various posts in the Jammu and Kashmir Fire and Emergency Services continued their protest on Thursday, urging the LG Manoj Sinha led administration to make public a report on alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
The agitated aspirants assembled at the Press Enclave Srinagar to reiterate their demand for the cancellation of the selection process, requesting the case to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The protesters, as per GNS, expressed frustration over the ‘administration’s failure to release the report of a three-member panel led by additional chief secretary (Home) R K Goyal formed on December 12, 2022 to investigate the alleged irregularities’.
According to the aspirants, they have been voicing their concerns for the past seven months, but their genuine demands have not been addressed till now.
They urged the LG led administration to make the inquiry report public to ensure transparency and fairness in the recruitment process.
Notably the instant issue dates back to 2013 when around 60,000 aspirants applied for 870 posts of firemen and firemen drivers. After a physical standard test and a written examination conducted by the recruitment board, approximately 14,000 candidates were shortlisted. However, the interviews scheduled for 2014 were canceled due to floods. Subsequently, the entire recruitment process was canceled in 2017 following the directives of the then chief minister.
The candidates then approached the high court, which ordered the government to conduct the recruitment process anew. In 2018, a physical test was held for the 14,000 shortlisted aspirants, with 7,000 of them passing and proceeding to the written examination. However, this written examination was also canceled by the court after allegations of irregularities and mass cheating, which were supported by an official inquiry panel.
Finally, a fresh examination was conducted on September 20, 2020, and a selection list was issued, leading to the completion of the recruitment process in the following month. However, unsuccessful candidates staged protests, claiming further irregularities and paper leaks in the process.
The demand for the cancellation of the selection list in the fire and emergency services department gained momentum after the Jammu and Kashmir administration canceled the police sub-inspector recruitment process in July and handed over the case to the CBI.
As the protests continue, the aspirants remain determined to seek justice and transparency in the recruitment process by pressuring the administration to release the findings of the inquiry panel publicly. (GNS)
