Four Years On Ppsc Yet To Hold Exams For 27 Advertised Posts

Four years after advertisements, the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) is yet to conduct written examination for 27 posts advertised in 2022, leaving thousands of aspirants waiting for the selection process to move forward.

While there is no prescribed time limit for conducting examination once the vacancies are advertised, PPSC chairman Major General Vinayak Saini (retd) attributed the delay to staff shortage and pending clarifications from government departments regarding certain posts.

The commission is responsible for recruiting candidates for Class 1 and 2 government posts. The pending recruitments include posts of draftsman engineering, lecturer, programmer, technical assistant, deputy director, assistant director, workshop superintendent and statistical assistant.

The prolonged delay has added to the anxiety of the aspirants.

Anatarpreet Singh, who teaches at a private coaching institute and is among the aspirants, said, “Thousands of students who applied for these posts have been waiting for the written examinations for nearly four years. It is heartbreaking to remain in uncertainty for such a long time.”

Acknowledging the delay, Saini said the state government had sent requisitions for over 100 posts in 2022 and that many of them has already been completed.

“The remaining recruitments are in the pipeline, and the written examinations are likely to be conducted in the coming months. In some cases, the concerned departments have delayed clarifying the pay scales for certain posts. We have been sending reminders to them,” he said.

He added that the commission had been handling a heavy workload with limited staff, particularly after conducting the Punjab Civil Services Examination following a five-year gap, which has also contributed to the delay.

Karam Prakash is a Patiala-based senior correspondent covering several districts of Malwa region of Punjab. He writes on various domains, including health, agriculture, power and education.