323 Probationary Officers, 1,033 Banking Associates to be recruited; SC, ST, OBC, RBA and EWS categories account for 60% reservation
Srinagar, Nov 7: While Jammu and Kashmir Bank has announced recruitment for 1,356 posts of Probationary Officers and Banking Associates, only 40 percent of the vacancies fall under the Open Merit share under the reservation framework applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving the remaining 60 percent earmarked for various reserved categories.
The recruitment notification, which invites applications from domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir, provides for filling 323 posts of Probationary Officers and 1,033 posts of Banking Associates.
The reservation structure applicable to the recruitment is based on the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005, as amended through Government Order S.O. 176 dated March 15, 2024.
Under the prescribed framework, Scheduled Castes have an 8 percent reservation, while Scheduled Tribes have a combined 20 percent reservation. Other Backward Classes have an 8 percent quota, residents of areas adjoining the Line of Actual Control and International Border have 4 percent, residents of Backward Areas have 10 percent, and Economically Weaker Sections have a 10 percent reservation.
Together, these categories account for 60 percent of the vacancies, leaving a residual 40 percent share for Open Merit.
Applied proportionately to the 1,356 advertised posts, the Open Merit share works out to approximately 542 vacancies, while around 814 posts would fall under the reserved categories. The exact category-wise and post-wise allocation, however, is subject to the vacancy roster and rounding adopted by the bank.
Of the total 323 Probationary Officer vacancies, the indicative Open Merit share works out to around 129 posts, while the remaining 1,033 Banking Associate vacancies would translate into approximately 413 Open Merit posts.
The figures underline the limited share of vacancies available under Open Merit in the recruitment exercise, particularly for candidates competing without the benefit of a reserved-category allocation.
The notification also provides for 4 percent horizontal reservation for Persons with Disabilities, distributed among different disability categories. This reservation operates horizontally and is not an additional vertical quota over and above the prescribed category-wise reservation.
Importantly, the Open Merit vacancies are not exclusively meant for candidates belonging to the unreserved social category. Candidates belonging to reserved categories who qualify on their own merit can also be considered against unreserved vacancies, subject to the applicable selection and roster rules.
The recruitment process will be conducted separately for the two positions. The Probationary Officer selection will comprise preliminary examination, mains examination and interview, with candidates shortlisted at each stage according to the prescribed category-wise criteria. The Banking Associate recruitment will be conducted through an online examination.
Online registration and payment of application fees for both recruitments will commence on November 7 and continue until November 26, 2026. The examinations will be conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).
Another condition specified in the notification requires selected candidates to remain posted within the initially allotted zone for a minimum period of five years, with no transfer outside that zone permitted during the prescribed period.
The recruitment has opened opportunities for thousands of aspirants across Jammu and Kashmir, but the reservation distribution is likely to bring renewed attention to the number of vacancies available in the Open Merit segment.
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