Omar Abdullah calls for policy allowing time to learn Urdu after CAT order on J&K recruitment: ‘Even before Independence…’

Omar Abdullah

With the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) deferring the naib tehsildar recruitment due to a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) directive, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah emphasised the importance of implementing a policy that provides candidates time to learn Urdu.

“Even before Independence, our revenue records were in Urdu. How will a staff member in the revenue department work if he/she doesn't know Urdu? Earlier, when officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) used to get appointed, if they didn't know Urdu, then they were given time to learn basics. I don't think staff members of the revenue department who don't know Urdu can be efficient,” he said.

He further emphasised that it would be more effective to introduce a policy that allows people sufficient time to learn the basics of Urdu after recruitment to such posts.

A two-member CAT bench has stayed the operation of the relevant provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules of 2009, insofar as they mandate graduation with knowledge of Urdu as the minimum qualification for the post of naib tehsildar.

The CAT further directed the JKSSB to accept applications for the post of naib tehsildar from candidates who possess a graduation with knowledge of any of the five official languages enumerated in the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020, which includes Hindi, Kashmiri, English, Dogri and Urdu.

“It is hereby informed that in view of the interim direction passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu… the process of inviting applications for the post of Naib Tehsildar (issued on June 9) is hereby deferred till further intimation/orders,” the JKSSB said in a notice.

The earlier order mandating Urdu as a compulsory language for the naib tehsildar recruitment examination sparked outrage in the Jammu region over the past one month with the BJP leading the protests and rallies, seeking revocation of the “discriminatory order”.

After the CAT’s direction, Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti said it was "deeply unfortunate" that the judiciary appears to be "influenced by divisive politics".

“Urdu, a recognised official language for decades, is now being unfairly communalised. Our revenue records and administrative work continue to be maintained in Urdu, and it is only logical that applicants for the post of Naib Tehsildar possess basic proficiency in the language. This requirement is rooted purely in administrative efficiency not in any form of divisiveness,” she wrote on X.

(With inputs from PTI)