Think of a graduate in Srinagar, books open at midnight, preparing for the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service exam.

She races her own birth certificate more than the syllabus. 

Clear the exam before she turns 33, and a career in public service opens wide. Miss that window, however strong her performance, and the door closes for good. 

Six attempts, one hard ceiling, and that’s the whole equation.

The ceiling used to sit higher once upon a time. 

Before 2018, Open Merit candidates could sit the JKAS exam until age 37, with unlimited attempts along the way. 

Then, on 23 February 2018, an order called SRO-103 rewrote both numbers together. 

The age limit dropped to 32, attempts fell to a cap of six, and the government promised something concrete in exchange: an annual exam cycle, run the way the UPSC runs its own. 

Aspirants say that promise appeared in patches, while the tighter age rule remained unchanged.

What followed looked like a government making it up as it went. 

Chief Secretaries issued one-time relaxations that pushed the limit back to 37 in 2018 and 2021, then to 35 for 2022, 2023 and 2024, discretionary orders renewed on a near-annual basis but left out of permanent law. 

Ahead of the 2025 exam, that pattern of last-minute fixes collapsed completely. 

Admit cards went out for a preliminary test set for 7 December, and the relaxation order remained stuck in file movement between offices. 

The Chief Minister’s office said the file had gone to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for approval. Lok Bhavan said the file came back four days earlier with a question about whether such changes were even workable that late, and........

© Kashmir Observer