Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had taken a biased and appeasement decision that does not give the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to get equal opportunities to get the job of Tehsildar. Therefore, the youth and the main opposition party in the Union Territory strongly opposed this decision and it was challenged in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which overturned the Omar Abdullah government’s decision. Let us tell you that knowledge of Urdu language was mandatory for the post of Tehsildar, due to which the youth of Jammu and Kashmir were very upset because especially in Jammu region, very few students study Urdu in school.
Surprisingly, the National Conference, which claimed to advocate the rights of Kashmiris, wanted to take away the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. In a series of ways, the decision to know the imperative of Urdu for the posts of Naib Tehsildar in Jammu and Kashmir was taken by Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Recruitment Board (JKSSB) on 9 June 2025. This decision was taken under Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 2009 and this rule was made during the 2009 National Conference Government. But the discrimination that was going on for years is now over. Now the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Recruitment Board to accept the applications of the candidates who have a bachelor’s degree and have knowledge of one of the five official languages- Hindi, Kashmiri, English, Dogri and Urdu.
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If seen, this decision of CAT is welcome for administrative reforms and at the same time it is also important that it will rectify the mistakes of the old system, which was implemented by the Umar Abdullah government. Let us tell you that the post of Naib Tehsildar is related to administrative and revenue management. Its basic function is the operation of law and order, land records and local administrative processes. This work asks for administrative efficiency and understanding, not knowledge of a particular language like Urdu. If seen, making a language mandatory, was to be associated with the politics of linguistic identity, which is a fatal tendency for a democratic and multilingual state.
Let us remind you that the Umar Abdullah government implemented this imperative when Urdu was not spoken or read in large parts like Jammu division and Ladakh. Eligible young candidates of these areas could be left behind simply because they did not study Urdu in school. If seen, limiting opportunities on a language basis was also against the principle of constitutional equality. There is no doubt that when the basis of selection is language, it starts getting more priority than talent and merit.
Let us remind you that Urdu was an attempt to promote Urdu as “the official language of the state” on behalf of the government, to give it excessively, to please a particular class and strengthen the politics of identity. But an administrative system should not be language -based, but capacity based. Now that this imperative is over, all the youth will surely get equal opportunity.
By the way, there is no doubt that the Urb Tehsildar’s Urdu decision for Naib Tehsildar was inspired by political and linguistic prejudice. Now removing this compulsion is a positive and necessary step towards the administrative reform of Jammu and Kashmir and the rights of the youth. In future, administrative positions should be decided not on the basis of language, religion or caste, but on the basis of skill and ability.