Urdu, Once Compulsory For Key Revenue Posts In Jammu Kashmir, Dropped In Draft Recruitment Rules
Urdu has been the official language of J&K for over a century, with extensive revenue records maintained in the language since the Maharaja Pratap's reign.
Published : April 20, 2026 at 6:21 PM IST
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government has removed Urdu, previously an indispensable qualification for revenue services, from the newly amended draft recruitment rules. The move has invited mixed reactions, including support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On April 10, the revenue department released the draft of the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Service Recruitment Rules for non-gazetted posts for inviting objections within fifteen days of its notification. This development comes nearly a year after the BJP protested and demanded revocation of a government order that made Urdu a compulsory language for the naib tehsildar recruitment examination in J&K.
The matter was taken to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which scrapped the requirement in its order dated July 14, 2025. A bench of the CAT, comprising of Rajinder Dogra and Ram Mohan Johri, stayed the implementation of provisions in the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules of 2009 that mandated graduation with knowledge of Urdu as a minimum qualification for the post. This landmark order has been passed in a petition filed by Rajesh Singh and others.
Urdu has been the official language of J&K for over a century since Dogra ruler Maharaja Pratap Singh’s regime. The first official settlement was recorded in Urdu and hence it was compulsory for revenue services.
On June 9, 2025, Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board invited applications for 75 Naib Tehsildar and designated Urdu compulsory to qualify for the post. It drew protest from BJP, which urged the Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha for its scrapping as they see it disadvantageous to Jammu aspirants.
Following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, the central government passed the J&K Official Languages Bill 2020 in the Parliament including four more languages including Dogri, Kashmiri, Hindi and English to the existing Urdu as official language.
According to the fresh revenue draft, the amendments are necessitated because of the bifurcation of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. In August 2019, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were declared as two union territories, mandating the distribution of the workforce and posts as well.
“Due to creation of certain posts in lieu of obsolete posts in light of the influx of IT (Information Technology in the revenue department, the need has arisen to notify the draft schedule and II of the J&K Revenue Service Recruitment Rules,” said the notification undersigned by the under secretary.
Per the draft, a total strength of over 11,500 posts, including 507 Naib Tehsildars, 1,207 Girdawars, and 4,809 Patwaris, the key officials responsible for maintaining land records in the union territory. It proposes 40 per cent of Naib Tehsildar posts will be filled through direct recruitment and the rest through promotion. Patwaris, who are the record keepers of land records, have to fill 100 percent through direct recruitment.
For all these posts, Urdu which was mandatory alongside bachelors degree for the above three posts in the previous Revenue Service Recruitment Rules 2009 has been removed. The previous rules mandated language to be mandatory for promotion to patwari posts. But the fresh notification has made only “graduation degree from recognised university” as the minimum qualification for these three posts.
J&K Revenue Secretary Kumar Rajeev Ranjan was not available on the phone.
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir Urdu Council led by the Council President, Advocate Abdul Rashid Hanjura, expressed sorrow over the cancellation of the mandatory Urdu clause for the recruitment of Patwari and Naib Tehsildar posts.
“This is the second major attack on Urdu during. Last year, the clause of Urdu knowledge for the posts of Naib Tehsildar was waived,” it said.
The Council demanded that the government cancel the notification because Urdu has been the official language here since the rule of Maharaja Pratap Singh and this language has been the guardian of the civilization of Jammu and Kashmir.
On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Zorawar Singh Jamwal hailed the move saying it will allow other official languages to be criteria for the posts.
“Almost a year ago, resentment grew among youth in Jammu because they couldn't write Urdu when applications for the post of Naib Tehsildar were invited. We protested and demanded that Urdu not be the sole language. Following this, an official notification for fresh draft rules has been issued. English and Hindi have also been incorporated and we welcome it,” he said.
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