Haryana Public Service Commission Results: Is The State Devoid of Intelligentsia?

In Sita Swayamvar, when no king could even move the Shiva's Dhanush, King Janak became distressed and said that I did not know that this earth has become devoid of brave men. Is there no such brave man on this earth who can break this Shiva Dhanush?

If we look at the examination results of the state's highest administrative service 'Haryana Civil Service' (HCS), recently released by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), then it seems that the soil of Haryana has become barren of intelligence and the youth of the state are rolling towards lower levels. Will the posts of this prestigious service of Haryana will remain vacant due to non-availability of the suitable candidates?

HPSC, under its advertisement number 11/2023, had invited applications for 95 posts for ‘HCS Examination-2022’ on February 9, 2023, for which more than ninety thousand candidates had applied. Only half of the applicants appeared in the preliminary examination and out of those who were successful in this examination, 1190 candidates appeared in the main examination held on 12-13 August.

According to the main examination result released by the Commission on September 25, only 61 candidates for 95 posts have been considered eligible for interview as per the condition of the commission. So, will the remaining 34 posts remain vacant now? Are all the remaining applicants not found even eligible for interview? What are the conditions which the youth of Haryana are not able to fulfil?

The minimum qualifying marks requirement for HCS main examination remains a hindrance for the candidates. Four papers have to be passed in the main examination – English (100 marks), Hindi (100 marks), General Knowledge (200 marks) and any one optional paper (200 marks).

It is mandatory to score minimum 33 percent marks in Hindi and English papers and minimum 45 percent marks in aggregate of all four papers combined. It is a very gloomy picture that in this main examination, out of 1190 candidates appeared, only 61 candidates were able to fulfil these conditions and the remaining 1129 candidates failed to cross this hurdle. What would be more ironical than this that some of the candidates could not even score minimum 33 percent marks in English and Hindi.

Such a situation has not arisen for the first time. Earlier, in the recruitment examination for 600 posts of Agricultural Development Officers (ADO), only 59 candidates were able to pass the examination. That is, 90 percent posts were left vacant due to unavailability of qualified candidates, whereas Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University located in Hisar in the state is considered a leader in agricultural education and the students of this university have earned their name and fame in foreign countries also.

Why are the sufficient& efficient candidates not being found?

In the state of Haryana, which is consistently included in the statistics of top unemployed states, a long army of unemployed youth is always found standing in the queue to get jobs. During the recent Legislative Assembly session on August 29, 2023, in response to a question asked by Meham MLA Balraj Kundu, the Chief Minister of Haryana had said that at present 5.4 lakh unemployed youth are registered in the state to get jobs.

He also informed that as on July 31, 2023, a long que of 1,03,265 graduates, 29,998 post graduates and 21,569 professional degree holders were registered in various employment offices of the state. The Legislative Assembly was informed that based on the Quarterly Bulletin (January-March 2023) of the Periodic Labor Force Survey conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, Government of India, the unemployment rate of Haryana is 8.8 per cent.

It is clear from the above government data that in Haryana alone, more than 1.5 lakh youth possess the prescribed eligibility for 'HCS' examination, who are registered in the employment offices. Apart from these, there are several thousand youth who possess the prescribed qualifications for this examination but do not register in the employment offices.

It is not that these people do not fill the forms for the posts. More than 90 thousand applicants had filled the forms for 95 posts of HCS recruitment alone, which means an average of one thousand applications for one post. Still even 95 candidates could not pass the recruitment exam, why so?

Has the education system in the educational institutions of Haryana become so poor that the students coming out from here are not able to score only 33 percent marks in English and Hindi papers and even 45 percent marks in aggregate? Or have students become so discouraged after seeing the long lines of unemployed that they have given up hope and studying?

Do they not believe in the slogan of Chief Minister Manohar Lal “No expenditure – No slip” (No Kharchi—No Parchi)? Despite the Chief Minister's repeated claims, is there still some ‘ Kharchi -- Parchi' system going on inside, which is visible to the public but is hidden from the Chief Minister's sight? Is it not the effect of 'Eating Milk and Curd' of Haryana that by drinking buffalo milk, the bodies of the youth are becoming strong, but the mind is becoming incapacitated? Is that why wrestlers and players of Haryana are winning medals, but students are lagging behind in ability? But it is not so at all, because every year the youth of Haryana are securing places in the first line of successful candidates in the country's highest and most difficult 'IAS' examination. Then what is the reason?

It seems that the recruitment examination system of the state itself is faulty. The government should pay more attention to this so that the youth of the state can get jobs and lakhs of vacant posts in the state can be filled, so that the public can get relief. It has even been seen that at some places each Tehsildar or SDM has the charge of two places, due to which public works remain in limbo.

What do the leaders of opposition parties allege?

Kumari Selja, National General Secretary of All India Congress Committee, former Union Minister and former State President of Haryana Congress, says, “Even today 01 lakh 82 thousand 497 posts are vacant in Haryana. A total of 04 lakh 45 thousand 849 posts are sanctioned in the government departments of the state, out of which only 2 lakh 62 thousand 497 posts are filled.

In this examination for HCS, a total of 61 candidates have been shown to have passed the main examination for 95 posts of HCS, it smacks of rigging, rules are being changed for their favourites. The rule says that three times the number of candidates is called for interview against the total number of posts.”

Selja alleges, “Today Haryana Public Service Commission remains the crown of scams. Question papers of the examinations conducted by them have been leaking, most of the questions from previous question papers have been repeated in the question papers, making the examination a joke. Question papers of various competitive examinations have been leaked more than 40 times. Instead of taking action against such institutions, the government is busy protecting them, in such a situation the candidates have to approach the court.”

Attacking the poor education system of Haryana, Kumari Selja says in a statement issued on September 25 that more than 28 thousand posts are lying vacant in government schools. She says that 60 percent posts of professors and assistant professors are lying vacant in government colleges. The condition of the universities is even worse.

Haryana State President of Aam Aadmi Party and Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sushil Gupta said that there should be a high-level inquiry into the matter as to how only 61 candidates out of 1190 candidates appeared in the main examination were considered eligible for the interview. After all, on what basis was the interview list prepared?

Dr. Gupta said that there is a rule to call at least 3 candidates for one post, but the HPSC results dashed the hopes of the youth. He said that Haryana Public Service Commission has left no stone unturned to harass the youth. Even before this, HPSC paper was leaked, whereas in the previous exam, 38 questions were repeated.

Gupta said that Aam Aadmi Party demands rechecking of the mains exam paper. After all, how were 14 candidates in 1500 series roll number and 13 candidates of 1900 series roll number given place in the final list?

What the solution should be?

When more than 28 thousand posts are lying vacant in government schools, 60 per cent posts of professors and assistant professors are lying vacant in government colleges, universities are also facing shortage of staff, so how will the students be able to compete in the competitive examinations. The government should not skimp on teacher recruitment.

There is definitely some truth in the allegations being made by the opposition leaders, the government must improve its education system. Along with this, the examination system of Haryana Public Service Commission and Staff Selection Commission also should be under investigation as to how the papers are being set at such a difficult level or paper checking is being done on such a strict scale that candidates are not able to even get passing marks.

An HCS aspirant says, “The Haryana Public Service Commission should also reconsider the condition of minimum prescribed marks. Our neighbouring state Rajasthan has set the condition of minimum 10 percent marks for different subjects in the main examination and 15 percent minimum marks in the aggregate of all the papers for its state level services. In comparison, Haryana's condition of minimum 45 percent aggregate marks appears to be more oppressive.”

This allegation of Congress leader Kumari Selja should also be taken seriously, in which she has said that 'it smacks of rigging, rules are being changed for the benefit of one's favourites'. The rule says that three times the number of candidates is called for interview than the total number of posts.

But, conclusively the fault does not lie with the government or the commission alone, the youth of Haryana should also prepare themselves seriously for a prestigious service like Haryana Civil Service.

Whatever may have been the shortcoming at some steps, the government and the commission will have to keep their credibility clean.

-- Jag Mohan Thaken