J&K CM, LG offices lock horns over CCE age relief

Despite maintaining a cordial working relationship, a fresh round of ‘war of words’ has broken out on social media between the office of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha over the issue of age relaxation to the aspirants of the Jammu and Kashmir Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination-2025 (CCE).

The day-long confrontation between the two sides prompted Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to write a letter to the Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, seeking postponement of the exam, which is scheduled to be held on December 7.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in a letter to Arun Kumar Choudhary, Chairman JKPSC, Saturday said: “I am writing in the context of the extraordinary situation presently confronting the aspirants of the Jammu and Kashmir Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination-2025, scheduled to be conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission. The ongoing disruption in the air services has caused widespread travel chaos across the region. This is further compounded by the prevailing uncertainty arising due to the delay in the proposal regarding age relaxation — an enabling provision that has been extended multiple times in the past. Together, these factors have placed unprecedented mental and logistical stress on the competing candidates.

In view of the above, and keeping in mind the principles of fairness, equity and equal opportunity for all aspirants, I would urge the Commission to take cognisance of the prevailing circumstances and consider postponement of the forthcoming examination by a reasonable duration, purely in the interest of the candidates. I am confident that the Commission, as always, will take a compassionate and balanced view of the matter in the larger public interest”.

Earlier in the day, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor (Lok Bhavan) said that several social media posts circulating about the JKPSC Prelims examination were “misleading,” asserting that the age-relaxation file sent by the Government was promptly returned the same day with a key query, but no response has been received since.

In a post on X, the Office of LG Jammu and Kashmir said: “Social media posts with regard to JKPSC exam are misleading. Lok Bhavan had received the file on 2nd December, 2025, which was categorically related to age relaxation only. The file was returned the same day, 2nd December, 2025, with a query whether it is logistically possible to conduct the exam on 7th December, by incorporating modifications in the eligibility criteria at such a belated stage. Despite a lapse of 4 days, Lok Bhavan did not receive any response. I fully sympathise with young aspirants.

The advertisement notice for the examination was published by the Jammu and Kashmir 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”.

Reacting to the ongoing tussle, the People’s Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti, in a post on X, said, “Aspirants of the JKPSC CCE are caught in a tussle between the LG and the CM. In this cold, they are out on the streets asking for nothing more than basic fairness -age relaxation and a reasonable exam schedule. I urge @OfficeOfLGJandK and @OmarAbdullah to step in and resolve this issue without any further delay”.

The ruling National Conference accused the BJP-PDP alliance Government for reducing the age limit during their tenure in power. “Which Government permanently reduced the age limit for all students of Jammu and Kashmir to apply for Government services? It was the PDP–BJP Government in 2018, said a post of the JKNC handle on X (earlier Twitter). Hitting back, PDP wrote back on X, “Excuses and finger-pointing at a government that ceased to exist seven years ago cannot wash away the responsibility you carry today. NC sought votes in the name of resolving people’s issues, sort this out”.

People’s Conference Chairman Sajad Lone, in a post on X, said, “The JKAS age relaxation issue is turning out to be yet another classical case of passing the buck at the cost of young aspirants. 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 the 2nd of December.

For heaven’s sake, can the CM put something in writing? The CMs 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. Every single day, we have a moaning CM complaining about his file being turned down. Yet nothing in the form of written communication”.