With just hours left for the J&K Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination for the Jammu & Kashmir administrative and police services examination, the offices of the Lt. Governor and the Chief Minister on Saturday traded allegations over the delay in granting age relaxation to the aspirants.
The delay in granting age relaxation or rejecting the proposal has created concern among the candidates as the examination is scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday, 7 December).
The aspirants have been demanding an increase in the upper age limit from 32 years to 37 years as the relaxation was granted during the past four years.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday blamed the Lok Bhavan (Raj Bhavan) for the uncertainty.
The office of chief minister wrote on X; “Chief Minister expressed deep concern over the travel chaos caused by the ongoing airline issues, compounded by the uncertainty resulting from Lok Bhavan’s delay in approving age relaxation, a provision granted multiple times in the past. He urged JKPSC to take note of the unprecedented stress on aspirants and consider postponing the exam in the interest of fairness and equal opportunity for all”.
Soon after, the LG’s Office issued a counter-statement, asserting that the file had been promptly returned to the Secretariat with a query.
In a series of posts on X, The office of Lt. Governor wrote; “Social media posts with regard to JKPSC exam are misleading. Lok Bhavan had received the file on 2nd Dec, 2025 which was categorically related to Age Relaxation only.
“File was returned the same day, 2nd Dec, 2025, with a query whether it is logistically possible to conduct exam on 7th Dec, by incorporating modifications in eligibility criteria at such a belated stage”.
“Despite lapse of 4 days Lok Bhavan did not receive any response. I fully sympathize with young aspirants”.
“The advertisement notice for the examination was published by the J&K Public Service Commission on 22.08.2025. The exam was notified to be conducted on 07.12.2025 through a notice on 06.11.2025; the LG’s office posted.
Meanwhile, opposition members also sharpened their attack against the National Conference government. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti urged the LG and CM to resolve the issue without further delay.
“Aspirants of the JKPSC CCE are caught in a tussle between the LG and the CM. In this freezing cold, they are out on the streets asking for nothing more than basic fairness — age relaxation and a reasonable exam schedule”, she said.
People’s Conference president Sajad Lone termed the tussle a “classical case of passing the buck at the cost of young aspirants”. Accusing Omar Abdullah of running the CM office through “TV bytes”, he said: “First CM posted suggesting that he had no role in the scuttling of the age relaxation file. And now the LG has suggested that they had sent the file back on 2nd of December. For heaven’s sake can the CM put something in writing. CM office cannot be run through TV bytes. What stops him from issuing written orders? Let them defy written orders. If the other side is falsifying facts. Let us call their bluff”.
Senior CPI(M) leader and MLA, MY Tarigami said that holding the examination tomorrow while the age relaxation file has been sent to the LG would be a “clear disadvantage” for the aspirants.
“Moreover, many candidates travelling from outside J&K are stranded due to flight cancellations. The examination must be deferred until the approval process is duly concluded”, he added.