INDIA
Kashmiri candidates for the Public Service are worried that the revocation of the Indian State’s special status may mean the end of their hopes of joining the bureaucracy.
Previously, non-locals had been barred for applying for the positions, but that law has been repealed.
Now it is unclear whether local Kashmiris will have to compete with applicants from the rest of the country.
The fear of outsiders qualifying for local administrative positions has sent a chill throughout the Kashmir Valley.
“They won’t have the emotional connection with the people,” one local candidate said.
“That could lead to discrimination with common people at the administrative level.”
Many Kashmiris look to the Public Service as their best hope for employment; it is seen as respectable and comes with job security and good pay.
In 2016, nearly 40,000 aspirants sat for preliminary testing.
After three stages, just 963 qualified and only 277 made it to the final list.
Even so, in the pursuit of an economically stable and independent life, 24-year-old Srinagar resident Bazila Akhtar said she had planned to take the daunting exam.
However, with most of her study material on the internet, which has been shut down during the emergency status currently in place, she has become discouraged.
Kashmiris’ reliance on Government jobs is a result of the violence that has plagued the area for years, discouraging other forms of economic development and foreign investment.
According to a report published by the Mumbai-based Economic Times in August, Kashmir received a mere $5.5 million in foreign direct investment between April 2000 and March 2019 — the lowest among all Indian States.
Srinagar, 12 October 2019
