Himachal: Candidates Protest Over Pending Results of HPSSC Exams

Protesters seeking job opportunities demonstrated in front of the state secretariat on Monday, demanding an immediate release of exam results conducted by the now-dissolved Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC). The state government had taken action on February 21, dissolving the HPSSC situated in Hamirpur, after uncovering a paper leak scam related to the recruitment of junior office assistants (IT) on December 23 last year. Consequently, several scheduled exams by the HPSSC were canceled, and results of previous exams are still pending due to an ongoing investigation by the vigilance bureau into the commission's activities over the past three years.

During the protest on Monday, the job aspirants urged authorities to promptly declare the withheld exam results. They advocated that even if the vigilance department was scrutinizing the examination process, the results should be announced, and successful candidates could be conditionally appointed, allowing termination later if any wrongdoing was discovered in securing the positions. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had repeatedly assured that the government was committed to resolving the pending results of the HPSSC exams. However, the demonstrators regarded these assurances as deceitful, expressing concern that the prolonged wait for results might affect their eligibility for the jobs due to age constraints if they were required to retake the exams. Determined to have their demands met, the protesters announced their intention to continue the sit-in protest (dharna) until the results were released.

The seriousness of the matter was evident as approximately 30 examinations conducted by the HPSSC in the past had experienced leaks, prompting the vigilance department to investigate irregularities in 22 of these exams.