Three Months After Final Selection, 223 Outstanding Athletes Still Await Joining Orders
Srinagar, Sep 9: Nearly three months after the Jammu and Kashmir Government issued the final selection list of 223 outstanding sportspersons for government service, the selected candidates are still awaiting formal appointment and joining orders.
The final selection list was issued by the Youth Services and Sports Department on June 10, 2026, under Notification No. 02-JK(YSS) of 2026. It includes five Chief Coach posts in the Gazetted cadre for 2022 and 218 Instructor posts in the Non-Gazetted cadre for the period from 2014 to 2022.
The recruitment process dates back several years. Applications were initially invited in January 2022 under the outstanding sportspersons quota for the calendar years 2014 to 2021. Following amendments to the rules through S.O. 412 of 2023, a revised advertisement was issued and the scrutiny process continued under a committee constituted by the General Administration Department in October 2023.
A provisional selection list was issued on February 11, 2026, covering five Chief Coach posts and 217 Instructor posts. The department subsequently invited objections before finalising the selection.
According to the final notification, the scrutiny committee received 227 objections from 84 applicants and non-applicants. The representations were examined against official records, applicable rules and supporting documents before being disposed of.
Following the scrutiny process, the final list increased the number of selected Instructors from 217 to 218, taking the total number of selected sportspersons to 223.
On June 10, Youth Services and Sports Minister Satish Sharma announced the selection and said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would formally hand over the appointment orders at a function. The selected sportspersons represent disciplines including shooting, kayaking and canoeing, taekwondo, gymnastics, chess, weightlifting, cycling and skiing.
However, the appointment orders have yet to be issued.
On September 3, an association representing the selected sportspersons said the candidates were still awaiting formal appointment letters and urged the administration to resolve the matter within 15 days. The association also called for completion of any pending verification formalities and sought clarity on the status of the appointment process.
Official records indicate that verification continued after the final selection. The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council issued a notice on June 12 for verification of the character and antecedents of candidates selected under the 2022 rules, as amended in 2023.
Under the applicable rules, the General Administration Department is responsible for considering appointments, subject to the availability of posts and recommendations of a committee headed by the Chief Secretary. The committee includes senior officials from the Home, Youth Services and Sports, and General Administration departments, along with the Director of Youth Services and Sports and Secretary of the Sports Council.
The rules also provide for the Youth Services and Sports Department to invite applications and submit the list of eligible candidates to the General Administration Department for consideration by the committee.
The delay comes amid a separate controversy over the selection process. A section of non-selected sportspersons had raised objections and alleged irregularities. The Sports Council, however, defended the process in July, stating that appointments were governed by statutory rules and government orders and had undergone scrutiny by the competent committees.
In August, the government decided to constitute a departmental committee to review the Appointment of Outstanding Sports Persons Rules, 2022, as amended by S.O. 412 of 2023. The department said the committee would examine the provisions of the rules, implementation-related issues and representations received from stakeholders.
The department also clarified that the review would be prospective and would not, by itself, cast any aspersion on sportspersons already selected under the rules applicable to them.
The delay has also been linked in reports to the case of Jammu-based sportsperson Surya Pratap Singh, who was not included in the final selection list and later sought government employment through a protest. Selected athletes have maintained that their appointments should not be held up over an issue concerning another candidate. However, the government has not publicly established that this individual case is the reason for withholding appointment orders for all 223 selected sportspersons.
The selected candidates are now seeking clarity on the remaining administrative process and a definite timeline for their appointments.
For the 223 sportspersons named in the final selection list, the selection process has already been completed. The pending step is the issuance of formal appointment orders and their joining in government service.
Three Months After Final Selection, 223 Outstanding Athletes Still Await Joining Orders
Srinagar, Sep 9: Nearly three months after the Jammu and Kashmir Government issued the final selection list of 223 outstanding sportspersons for government service, the selected candidates are still awaiting formal appointment and joining orders.
The final selection list was issued by the Youth Services and Sports Department on June 10, 2026, under Notification No. 02-JK(YSS) of 2026. It includes five Chief Coach posts in the Gazetted cadre for 2022 and 218 Instructor posts in the Non-Gazetted cadre for the period from 2014 to 2022.
The recruitment process dates back several years. Applications were initially invited in January 2022 under the outstanding sportspersons quota for the calendar years 2014 to 2021. Following amendments to the rules through S.O. 412 of 2023, a revised advertisement was issued and the scrutiny process continued under a committee constituted by the General Administration Department in October 2023.
A provisional selection list was issued on February 11, 2026, covering five Chief Coach posts and 217 Instructor posts. The department subsequently invited objections before finalising the selection.
According to the final notification, the scrutiny committee received 227 objections from 84 applicants and non-applicants. The representations were examined against official records, applicable rules and supporting documents before being disposed of.
Following the scrutiny process, the final list increased the number of selected Instructors from 217 to 218, taking the total number of selected sportspersons to 223.
On June 10, Youth Services and Sports Minister Satish Sharma announced the selection and said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would formally hand over the appointment orders at a function. The selected sportspersons represent disciplines including shooting, kayaking and canoeing, taekwondo, gymnastics, chess, weightlifting, cycling and skiing.
However, the appointment orders have yet to be issued.
On September 3, an association representing the selected sportspersons said the candidates were still awaiting formal appointment letters and urged the administration to resolve the matter within 15 days. The association also called for completion of any pending verification formalities and sought clarity on the status of the appointment process.
Official records indicate that verification continued after the final selection. The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council issued a notice on June 12 for verification of the character and antecedents of candidates selected under the 2022 rules, as amended in 2023.
Under the applicable rules, the General Administration Department is responsible for considering appointments, subject to the availability of posts and recommendations of a committee headed by the Chief Secretary. The committee includes senior officials from the Home, Youth Services and Sports, and General Administration departments, along with the Director of Youth Services and Sports and Secretary of the Sports Council.
The rules also provide for the Youth Services and Sports Department to invite applications and submit the list of eligible candidates to the General Administration Department for consideration by the committee.
The delay comes amid a separate controversy over the selection process. A section of non-selected sportspersons had raised objections and alleged irregularities. The Sports Council, however, defended the process in July, stating that appointments were governed by statutory rules and government orders and had undergone scrutiny by the competent committees.
In August, the government decided to constitute a departmental committee to review the Appointment of Outstanding Sports Persons Rules, 2022, as amended by S.O. 412 of 2023. The department said the committee would examine the provisions of the rules, implementation-related issues and representations received from stakeholders.
The department also clarified that the review would be prospective and would not, by itself, cast any aspersion on sportspersons already selected under the rules applicable to them.
The delay has also been linked in reports to the case of Jammu-based sportsperson Surya Pratap Singh, who was not included in the final selection list and later sought government employment through a protest. Selected athletes have maintained that their appointments should not be held up over an issue concerning another candidate. However, the government has not publicly established that this individual case is the reason for withholding appointment orders for all 223 selected sportspersons.
The selected candidates are now seeking clarity on the remaining administrative process and a definite timeline for their appointments.
For the 223 sportspersons named in the final selection list, the selection process has already been completed. The pending step is the issuance of formal appointment orders and their joining in government service.
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