Police sub-inspector recruitment exam postponed to January 23: Karnataka home minister

BELAGAVI: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday announced in the Legislative Assembly that the re-examination for the recruitment of police sub-inspectors will be postponed to January 23. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) had earlier said it would conduct the re-examination on December 23.

Aspirants have been demanding the postponement, claiming there was not enough time for preparations. “The measures or precautions that should be taken while conducting the exams, if done properly this situation would not have arisen. But, it has happened, whether it happened during their (opposition BJP) time or others, let's not get into that discussion now," Parameshwara said.

He asked: "When there is an (overall) vacancy of 1,500 sub-inspectors, how can the police stations function, how can the law and order be maintained?" "There is no intention to trouble the candidates, if our schedule completes quickly, 1,500 sub-inspectors will get jobs. So the schedule that was there for December 23, will be postponed to January 23," he added.

The KEA had recently said in a statement that following the High Court order, the PSI re-examination is being conducted and those who were eligible to appear for the exam in the previous examination will be entitled to write the re-examination.

On January 21, 2021, the police department issued a notification for the recruitment of 545 PSI posts and the written examination was held on October 3, 2021. The exam was mired in controversy after the question paper was leaked on social media.

Several people were arrested including the then Additional Director General of Police Amrit Paul, and some senior police officers of the rank of deputy superintendent of police, inspector, sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector, and constables in connection with the scandal. The government cancelled the exam and decided to conduct it afresh.