Srinagar Municipal Corporation has become a ‘state within a state’ as it is bypassing all the rules and regulations framed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government. In a state like Jammu and Kashmir where the unemployment graph has touched to new heights, the Corporation has reduced the upper age limit from 40 to 35 for job aspirants, though government in 2014 had put the age limit for general category aspirants to 40 and 43 for those belonging to reserved category. Ironically, Srinagar Municipal Corporation declined to offer ‘Helper’ job to a poor and hapless graduate lady from old Srinagar city because she is 35.
“I fail to understand how they can reject my form when I am only 35, besides, every officer in the Corporation is passing the buck holding some other officer responsible for this injustice. A year before, I had applied for the post of Helper but now the Corporation officials refused to entertain my form citing ‘over age criteria’, said the job aspirant Romana Akhtar to news agency CNS.
“I want to know if the upper age limit is 40, and I am eligible for the post then how they rejected my form,” she said. When contacted, Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation Reyaz Ahmed Wani said: “I have already conveyed to the aspirant that her case will be considered. We will take a call on this issue and we will consider her case,” he said.