Himachal Pradesh: Congress MLA asks state government to reactivate HPSSC to speed-up recruitment

SHIMLA: Senior Congress leader and two-time MLA Rajinder Rana has written to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressing concern over the "delay" in recruitment for government jobs. In his letter, also posted on Facebook on Saturday, Rana claimed that the issue was creating discontent among the youths and pressed for reactivating the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission by appointing honest members to restart the selection process.

"Results of interviews are withheld and the applicants who have cleared the tests are impatiently waiting for recruitment and many of them are on the verge of becoming overage for government jobs," he said. Rana, who changed the complexion of Himachal politics by defeating former BJP chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017 assembly polls, was re-elected on a Congress ticket in 2022 from Sujanpur assembly seat where he defeated BJP's Captain Ranjit Singh.

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“Youths have high hopes from the government and are questioning the elected representatives about recruitment and declaration of the results. I request you to take immediate decision in this regard,” Rana said.

The Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC) has been dissolved and there is a dire need to re-establish the body by appointing honest members to restart the selection process, he said. The HPSSC was dissolved in February 2023, two months after a paper leak was unearthed on December 23, 2022 when the vigilance team arrested senior assistant of the commission, Uma Azad, with solved question papers and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash.

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“We need to understand the sentiments of the people, especially the youth seeking jobs and we are answerable to them. All youths cannot be punished for the corruption of a few persons,” he told PTI on Saturday.

Providing five lakhs jobs in five years is one of the ten guarantees of the Congress government and recruitment through government agencies is required to fulfill the promise, he added. Rana also expressed hope that the government would take up the issue of the fake degree scam seriously and investigate it thoroughly as it concerns the future of the youth. Talking to PTI, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said, “We have been saying from day one that scrapping the commission is not the solution and even after six months, no alternative arrangement for recruitments has been made by the present Congress government and the youths are feeling frustrated.”