JKSET 2026 Candidates Hit Kashmir Marathon Traffic; Police Deny Delay

Candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir State Eligibility Test (JKSET) said traffic arrangements for the Kashmir Marathon in Srinagar on Sunday, 25 October, left them stuck on the way to their exam centres, even though the University of Kashmir had moved the test two hours later, to 1:30 pm. Srinagar’s traffic police said in a statement the same day that no candidate was prevented from reaching a centre, and that the last diversion was lifted at 11:45 am.

Stuck Between MA Road and Habak Crossing

Candidates told Brighter Kashmir they were held up on the MA Road to Habak Crossing stretch, which serves several centres including the university, despite leaving early, and that public transport was scarce on the route. The university arranged vehicles, but students said these were not enough. They asked that those who set out on time not be penalised. The test decides eligibility for assistant professor posts in colleges and universities in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Traffic police said MA Road reopened at 8:30 am and Boulevard Road towards Nishat at 10:15 am, and called the restrictions planned diversions that had been announced in advance.

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Aspirants Had Asked for the Marathon to Move

Both events were fixed for the same day. Around 21 October, aspirants asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to push the marathon back by a week, saying about 30,000 candidates were expected, Kashmir News Trust reported. The marathon went ahead. A JKSET agency notice dated 21 October, signed by Member Secretary Prof Aijaz Ahmad, instead shifted the exam from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm and cut the break between the two papers from 20 to 15 minutes. The notice gave no reason.

Omar Abdullah flagged off the third edition, which the Tourism Department said had 1,807 registered runners, 73 of them from abroad. Kenyan runners won the full marathon.

No Count Yet of Late Candidates

The university has not said how many candidates reached late or whether any missed a paper, and the JKSET 2026 portal carried no notice on it by Monday morning. Neither the Chief Minister’s office nor the Tourism Department had responded publicly to the plea to defer the event by 8 AM IST on 26 October. For other recent exam news, see Daily Updates and IPB’s report on UPSC CSE 2025 service allocation.

Source: JKSET/LASET 2026 Information Bulletin, University of Kashmir. Also based on reporting by Kashmir Life (traffic police statement), Brighter Kashmir, Kashmir Observer, The Right News / KNT and Deccan Herald.

Image: Deccan Herald.