Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that appointing officers in the Revenue Department without knowledge of Urdu would be ineffective. He said it is important for officers to have basic Urdu language skills to effectively handle revenue records, which are historically maintained in Urdu.
“Ours is not an attempt to exclude anyone from the department. Revenue records in Jammu and Kashmir have been in Urdu since before Independence. If we appoint officers who cannot even read these records, what will they do?” Omar said during a media interaction regarding the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) stay on the enforcement of a key provision in the Jammu & Kashmir Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules. The rule mandated candidates possess a graduation degree with Urdu language knowledge as an exclusive qualification for the post of Naib Tehsildar.
Omar said that officers from JKAS and IAS who lack Urdu knowledge are being given time to learn the language. “Appointing Revenue officers without Urdu knowledge is futile. It’s better to develop a policy allowing them some months or a year to acquire basic Urdu skills. If they don’t have Urdu knowledge, they won’t be able to read revenue records effectively,” he explained.
In another development, CM welcomed the letter from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. He expressed gratitude and said that he had long awaited such a move.
“I appreciate Kharge and Rahul for raising the issue of statehood restoration. We haven’t asked for anything that hasn’t been promised to us. Promises were made in Parliament, the Supreme Court, and public meetings that statehood would be restored at the earliest. I believe the time for delay has passed, and it should be restored now,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister projected that the ongoing Amarnath Yatra will see over 3.5 lakh pilgrims this year. “Despite concerns that pilgrimages would decline after the Pahalgam attack, large numbers are visiting Kashmir, and the pilgrimage is proceeding smoothly. We expect the number to easily cross 3.5 lakh,” he said—(KNO)
