Blast of rice caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (Hebert) Barr is one of the major constraints in rice production in Jammu and Kashmir; and exploiting host plant resistance by utilizing resistance (R) genes is considered to be the economically viable and environmentally safe approach to tackle this disease. Of about 100 blast resistance genes identified so far, Pi54 is reported to provide broad spectrum resistance to prevalent races of M. oryzae under North Western hill ecology. Pi54 is a cloned and characterized gene with availability of closely linked and functional markers. The present study aimed at selecting plants homozygous for the blast resistance gene Pi54 in F2 population of the cross K 343/DHMAS. A total of 25 SSR markers were used, out of which 4 showed polymorphism with respect to these two parents; indicating the genetic similarity in their backgrounds. Out of the three SSR markers reported closely linked to Pi54 locus i.e. TRS26, TRS33 and RM206, marker RM 206 (0.7cM from Pi54 locus) was utilized for selection of Pi54 positive plants in F2 population as it resolved clearly through agarose gel electrophoresis. The hybridity of the F1 plants was confirmed using polymorphic SSR markers (RM110, RM220, RM240, and RM263). The F2 plants along with parents were sprayed with suspension of PLP-1 culture of M. oryzae at 5-6 leaf stage and incubated under standard conditions for pathological phenotyping. Out of the 27 plants, 8 plants showed moderate to highly susceptible response. Other 19 plants showed immune to resistant reaction. The genotyping of parents and individual F2 plants using linked marker RM206 showed that out of 27 plants, only 7 plants had target gene in homozygous dominant state and were thus identified as Pi54 positive plants which could be utilized as superior genetic stocks.