EWS

An Income and EWS certificate issued in August 2025 stating “valid for one year from the date of issue” remains valid up to August 2026, and more importantly it already falls within the financial year 2025–26 (which runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026). In most SSC recruitments, the requirement “valid for financial year 2025–26” generally means that the certificate should have been issued in that financial year and should cover the prescribed income assessment period (usually FY 2024–25 income). Since your certificate is issued in August 2025, it is already within FY 2025–26, so on a strict reading it should ordinarily be acceptable. If SSC specifically asks for a format mentioning the financial year, the revenue authority (Tehsildar/SDM/Certificate Issuing Officer) has administrative power to issue a revised or re-validated certificate in the prescribed format, provided you meet eligibility conditions; they are expected to follow Government of India guidelines and cannot arbitrarily refuse a correction if the underlying facts remain unchanged.

If the revenue officer refuses to issue a revised SSC-format certificate without valid reason, it would be treated as an administrative refusal of a statutory service. In such a situation, you can first submit a written representation requesting re-issuance in SSC format with reference to the SSC notification, and seek acknowledgment. If still denied, you may escalate the matter to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate/Collector’s office or file an online grievance on the state e-district portal. As a further remedy, you can also seek information or clarification under RTI regarding the reason for refusal. In extreme cases where arbitrary denial affects your eligibility, courts have consistently held under Article 226 of the Constitution that issuing authorities must act fairly and in accordance with guidelines, and a writ petition can be filed seeking direction for issuance of the certificate in the prescribed format, provided eligibility is otherwise satisfied