The Biz Reporter
Srinagar, Nov 12:
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged Jammu & Kashmir Bank to enhance the upper age limit for its recently advertised recruitment of Probationary Officers and Banking Associates to 40 years, in line with the age criteria followed in recruitment to various posts by the Jammu & Kashmir Government.
The Chamber said that the bank’s decision to undertake fresh recruitment after a gap of nearly six years has generated considerable expectations among educated youth aspiring to build careers in the banking sector. However, the upper age limit of 30 years prescribed in the latest notification could exclude a significant number of otherwise qualified candidates who have crossed the prescribed age during the prolonged period without regular recruitment.
KCCI observed that candidates should not be made to bear the consequences of prolonged recruitment gaps, particularly when they have spent several years preparing for competitive banking examinations with the expectation of opportunities in one of the region’s premier financial institutions.
The Chamber pointed out that J&K Bank has historically been among the largest institutional recruiters in the region and has played a significant role in providing employment opportunities to educated youth. Its recruitment exercises, therefore, have implications extending beyond the institution itself and directly affect the employment aspirations of thousands of families across Jammu & Kashmir.
While welcoming the fresh recruitment of 1,356 posts, comprising 323 Probationary Officers and 1,033 Banking Associates in Jammu & Kashmir, KCCI said the opportunity should be made as inclusive as possible by taking into consideration the exceptional circumstances arising from the prolonged absence of recruitment.
The Chamber emphasised that the age criteria followed by the Jammu & Kashmir Government, which provides an upper age limit of 40 years for Open Merit candidates in JKSSB recruitments, offers a reasonable benchmark for consideration by the bank.
KCCI also noted that the upper age limit for Probationary Officer recruitment has been reduced from the earlier 32 years to 30 years in the present recruitment exercise, further narrowing the eligibility window for aspirants who have already waited several years for an opportunity.
The Chamber said that extending the upper age limit to 40 years would enable a larger pool of qualified and experienced candidates to compete on merit. It would also ensure that candidates who lost valuable years waiting for recruitment are not permanently excluded from an opportunity for which they had been preparing.
KCCI has appealed to the Chairman and Managing Director of J&K Bank to sympathetically examine the matter and consider a suitable amendment to the recruitment notification, enhancing the upper age limit to 40 years.
The Chamber has also urged the Jammu & Kashmir Government, as the bank’s majority shareholder, to take up the matter with the bank’s management and facilitate a favourable decision in the larger interest of educated unemployed youth.
KCCI maintained that recruitment after such a prolonged interval should be accompanied by measures that ensure fairness, inclusiveness and equal opportunity. The objective should be to identify the best available talent through competition rather than restrict the participation of deserving candidates on account of years lost during the absence of recruitment.
