New Delhi: More than four months after giving the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service mains exam, 27-year-old Sameer Yousuf is still waiting for his result. With the next recruitment notification expected soon, he has a choice to make—whether to prepare for an interview in case he clears the mains, or start studying for the next prelims in case he doesn’t.
“I don’t know what I should do at this point,” said the Budgam resident who has been preparing for four years and has appeared for three mains exams of the JKAS, conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC).
Time is running out for government job aspirants in Jammu and Kashmir, and not just those sitting for the administrative services exam. Some are waiting for delayed exams to finally take place. Others, like Yousuf, are waiting for results. And some are staring at lowered age limits even as long waits eat up their eligibility.
Data tabled in the J&K Assembly in September showed that 38 recruitment examinations of the JKPSC were pending, including 32 from 2025-26. The Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), which recruits for non-gazetted government jobs, postponed 12 exams in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
J&K Bank, meanwhile, advertised more than 1,300 jobs last week after a gap of nearly six years, but with a sting in the tail. The upper age limit for probationary officers has fallen from 32 to 30. The cap fell for the JKAS exam too, from 35 in the 2024 cycle to 32 in 2025 for open-merit candidates, leading to some aspirants even going on a hunger strike ahead of the prelims last December. In 2025, unemployment among 15-29-year-olds in Jammu and Kashmir stood at 14.1 per cent, against 9.9 per cent nationally, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey.
The Jammu and Kashmir government will discuss recruitment delays and age limits at a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and senior officials on Wednesday, Shabnam Kamili, Commissioner-Secretary of the Administrative Reforms, Inspections and Training Department, told ThePrint.
Yousuf, who is also the Central Kashmir coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, wants the government to raise the age limit to make up for the gaps between exams.
“JKPSC examinations are not conducted every year. There are huge gaps between recruitment cycles, and candidates who had attempts left lose out because their age limit is not extended. Look at the unemployment situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. “The government needs to understand that young people have already lost several years waiting for these opportunities.”
The JKPSC has been functioning without a regular chairman since AK Choudhary retired in August 2026. That vacancy and the unfilled member posts have added to the worries of aspirants waiting for exam and interview dates.
“The government decides the age limit; the JKPSC has no role in determining it. Vacancies are also referred to the Commission by the government, and delays can occur at different stages of the recruitment process. Every state has its own rules. In Himachal Pradesh, for instance, the upper age limit is different. The government in Jammu and Kashmir can take a decision to relax the age limit if it wants to,” said BR Sharma, former chairman of the JKPSC.
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Too old to apply
Commerce graduate Zaid Ali had his heart set on a government banking job and so he began preparing at 27. But by the time the J&K Bank advertised vacancies, the age limit for probationary officers had dropped from 32 to 30. Ali was already 31. Now he cannot sit for the exam.
“First, they took six years to fill the vacancies. They should increase the age limit for those aspirants who waited for it to come. Now they can’t even fill the forms. This is unfair to us,” said Ali.
The bank has advertised 1,356 vacancies, 323 for Probationary Officers (POs) and 1,033 for Banking Associates.
Under the notification, candidates applying for both positions must be between 20 and 30 years of age as on 1 January 2026, with applicable relaxations for reserved categories.
On 9 November, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) wrote to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha asking him to intervene.
“The absence of timely recruitment opportunities has already cost them valuable years,” the association wrote.
J&K Students Association Writes to LG Manoj Sinha Over J&K Bank Recruitment Age Limit; Demands Relaxation to 40 Years and Stresses Priority to Merit@ANI @PTI_News @ians_india @GreaterKashmir @GreaterKashmir pic.twitter.com/11WR6B0y80
— J&K Students Association (@JKSTUDENTSASSO) November 9, 2026
It has demanded that the upper age limit be increased to 40 years, in line with JKSSB recruitment criteria. It has also asked the bank to restore the earlier 32-year limit for probationary officers “at the very least”.
“The age limit should be 40 years, as in Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh is also a hilly state, and we fall in the same category. When recruitment itself takes place after several years, candidates should be given enough time and an opportunity to compete. They should not lose their chance simply because the government has delayed the process,” Yousuf said.
While he waits for his own JKAS results, Yousuf is coaching other aspirants to make ends meet.
“My father was killed by militants six months before I was born. My mother is now retired, and I carry the responsibility of looking after her,” he said.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)