Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Feb 16: Serious irregularities and alleged favouritism have been flagged in the framing and implementation of the Information Technology (IT) Service Recruitment Rules-2016 and in the selective finalisation of the Common IT Service in Jammu and Kashmir, with computer professionals across multiple Government departments accusing the IT Department of excluding the vast majority of similarly placed employees.
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A group of computer professionals working in various Government departments told Excelsior that only 44 IT employees have been selectively considered for finalisation of the Common IT Service, while more than 1,000 similarly placed professionals working across 38 departments have been excluded, raising grave concerns over transparency, fairness and legality.
“A selective and exclusionary approach has been adopted in finalising the Common IT Service, which defeats the very objective of creating a unified IT cadre and gives rise to a strong presumption of favouritism and bias,” the group said.
They said the IT Department was formally established through Government Order No. 1094-GAD of 2016 on October 14, 2016, followed by notification of recruitment rules for Gazetted and Non-Gazetted posts under SROs 343 and 344 on October 24, 2016. However, they alleged that Government Orders No. 05-JK(ITD) of 2026 and 06-JK(ITD) of 2026, both dated January 20, 2026, and subsequent administrative actions show that only 44 IT professionals-restricted to two directorates-are being considered for finalisation of the Common IT Service. “This has caused widespread resentment among the IT cadre and has raised grave apprehensions regarding transparency, fairness and legality of the entire process,” they said.
The group said many IT professionals have been serving the Government since as early as 1998 but have seen no promotions for more than two decades, resulting in prolonged stagnation and demoralisation. “Despite possessing requisite technical qualifications and rendering long years of service, promotions have remained non-existent,” they added.
They further alleged that the IT Service Recruitment Rules-2016 suffer from inherent defects, including framing of rules without consultation with IT domain experts, constitution of a committee only after the rules were framed, and absence of any technical (computer professional) member in the rule-framing process. “Posts having dissimilar duties and responsibilities have been arbitrarily merged, no properly authenticated seniority lists were prepared before redesignation, and grade anomalies were created by placing lower and higher posts in the same grade,” the group said, adding that the rules also fail to clearly distinguish between district, divisional and UT cadre posts.
According to them, despite repeated communications between 2016 and 2026 and submission of complete data by all concerned departments, the IT Department failed to finalise the matter. “The inaction appears deliberate and has given rise to a strong apprehension of corruption and extraneous considerations,” they alleged.
The employees also cited minutes of the Establishment-cum-Selection Committee headed by the Chief Secretary dated January 19, 2021, which noted lack of uniformity in designations and advised the IT Department to reconcile posts across departments and submit a consolidated proposal. “No such proposal has been submitted till date,” they said.
They further alleged that several sanctioned posts and serving employees were omitted from Government Order No. 1094-GAD of 2016 and that multiple representations regarding wrongful redesignation and improper clubbing of posts remain unanswered.
The group pointed out that the matter is pending before the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, which has directed maintenance of status quo. Despite this, they alleged the IT Department issued Government Order No. 90-JK(ITD) of 2025 on December 16, 2025.
Demanding a thorough, independent and time-bound probe, the group said an inquiry should be ordered into allegations of favouritism, abuse of official position, procedural manipulation and deliberate violation of judicial directions in the implementation of the IT Service Recruitment Rules-2016. “We want uniform, transparent and lawful treatment of all 1,039 IT professionals working across 38 departments in the Union Territory,” they added.
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