On Wednesday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered a halt to the announcement of recruitment results in Haryana until after the state assembly elections. The elections for Haryana’s 90 assembly constituencies are scheduled for October 1, with the vote counting set for October 4.
The ECI’s decision follows a complaint from Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the ongoing recruitment processes. These include the hiring for 5,600 police constable positions, 76 posts of TGT and PTI by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC), and various posts by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC).
The Commission reviewed the situation and noted that 600 posts for Female Constables (General Duty) and 4,000 posts for Male Constables (General Duty) were requisitioned and uploaded on the HSSC portal on July 3, 2024, and July 9, 2024, respectively. Additionally, 1,000 posts for Male Constables (IRB) were requisitioned on July 9, 2024. The recruitment advertisement for these posts was published on August 16, 2024, at 1:45 PM on the HSSC website. The ECI found that these advertisements pertained to regular appointments and were issued according to pre-election requisitions by the DGP of Haryana.
For the HPSC, the Commission noted that recruitment for 38 posts had been in process before August 16, 2024. The HPSC had already notified schedules for 16 categories of posts on July 8, 2024, including the Ayurvedic Medical Officer post with a screening test date of September 22, 2024, and the Assistant Architect post with a test scheduled for September 29, 2024.
The ECI clarified that while regular recruitment and promotions by UPSC, State Public Service Commissions, or Staff Selection Commissions are permitted under MCC guidelines, non-statutory body recruitments require prior ECI clearance.
To ensure a level playing field and avoid any undue advantage, the ECI has directed that the results for the HSSC and HPSC recruitments not be announced until after the completion of the assembly elections. Haryana’s electorate includes 2.01 crore voters, with 1.06 crore males, 0.95 crore females, 4.52 lakh first-time voters, and 40.95 lakh young voters.
