Srinagar, Sept 26: The proposed amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Development (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules are yet to be finalised, with the revised draft currently under examination by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj following observations raised by the Standing Committee.
The status was disclosed by the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister in the J&K Legislative Assembly in response to a question raised by MLA Shafi Ahmad Wani.
The Minister said the General Administration Department (GAD), through Government Order No. 590-JK(GAD) of 2024 dated April 29, 2024, read with Government Order No. 263-JK(GAD) of 2026 dated January 7, 2026, constituted a binding committee for vetting and finalising recruitment rules for various Gazetted and Non-Gazetted services across government departments, including the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department.
The department had initiated the process to amend the existing J&K Rural Development (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 2007 following rationalisation of the department under Government Order No. 99-RD&PR of 2023 dated March 2, 2023.
The proposal was subsequently referred to the ARI & Trainings Department for placement before the Standing Committee. The committee, in a meeting held on July 23, 2024, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, ARI & Training Department, concurred with the departmental proposal.
The file was thereafter sent to the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for vetting. However, the Law Department returned it with certain observations.
The matter was subsequently examined in consultation with the Accounts Section of the department and taken up with the Finance Department over the proposed upgradation of the pay level of Panchayat Secretaries from Level-2 to Level-4, on the analogy of similarly placed employees in other departments.
The Finance Department eventually conveyed its concurrence to the proposal.
Following approval by the competent authority, the pay level of Panchayat Secretary posts, including VLWs, MPWs and Gram Sevika, was upgraded from Level-2 (₹19,900-63,200) to Level-4 (₹25,500-81,100) through Government Order No. 16-JK(RD&PR) of 2026 dated January 12, 2026.
The department subsequently revised the draft amendments to the recruitment rules in view of the pay-level change and forwarded the revised proposal to the ARI & Trainings Department for fresh clearance by the Standing Committee.
However, the revised proposal was again returned with observations.
In its reply, the government said the revised draft was placed before the Standing Committee in its meeting held on August 18, 2026, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, ARI & Training Department, and was returned with certain observations.
The department is presently examining these observations, and the revised proposal has not yet been finalised or approved by the competent authority.
The government also clarified that the percentage or quota proposed for promotion of in-service stakeholders to the next higher level/posts cannot be disclosed at this stage, as the revised recruitment rules are still under examination and have not received final approval.
Thus, nearly two years after the recruitment-rule amendment process was initiated, the proposed rules remain at the draft stage, with their final provisions, including the promotional pay for existing employees, yet to be settled.
