Jammu: In a view to encourage civil service aspirants in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has come up with a special scheme under which eligible candidates will be provided quality coaching in reputed institutes of New Delhi.

The scheme is part of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's policy to build capacity among government employees and widen opportunities for candidates to successfully compete at the national-level.

The Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration (JKIMPA) and the Rural Development, designated by the government as the nodal agency, is inviting applications from desirous candidates to take the benefits of the scheme.

The last date for submission of application forms at the offices of the Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development in Srinagar and Jammu is February 9.

While briefing the scheme, director general JKIMPA, Madhav Lal said, "The coaching programme would be of six months and would be conducted in two phases."

"The first phase of two months coaching would be for the preliminary examination and the second phase would be of four months for the main examination," he said.

The eligibility criteria for general candidates had been fixed at 65 per cent marks for commerce, science and engineering graduates, 60 per cent for arts graduates, 55 per cent for post-graduates in commerce, arts, science and engineering subjects.

However, there is relaxation in graduation marks for candidates belonging to SC/ST and OBC categories. In case of candidates belonging to SC/ST and OBC, the minimum percentages would be uniformly 5 per cent less than for the general open merit candidates," Lal added.

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