States » NorthPosted at: Nov 11 2026 7:53PM


Punjab Public Service Commission recruitment under fraud cloud as BJP, Congress demand CBI probe

Neeraj Bali
Chandigarh, Nov 11 (UNI) Allegations of large-scale irregularities in Punjab's civil services recruitment intensified on Wednesday, with the BJP and Congress demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into claims of manipulated exam results, favouritism, and questionable shortlisting patterns, even as the state recruitment commission rejected the charges.
The controversy centres on the Punjab Public Service Commission's (PPSC) November 4 results for the Punjab State Civil Services Combined Competitive Examination-2025 mains, in which 751 candidates were shortlisted for interviews against 331 advertised vacancies.
Opposition leaders and unsuccessful candidates have questioned why unusually large numbers of candidates from certain examination rooms qualified, why groups of consecutive roll numbers appeared in the shortlist, and whether some candidates who did not attend the examination were declared successful.
Punjab BJP leader Kewal Singh Dhillon accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of manipulating recruitment to benefit relatives of influential politicians, bureaucrats and senior police officers.
"Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had promised jobs on merit, but his government has put Punjab's administrative posts up for auction," Dhillon alleged in a statement.
He claimed the recruitment process was compromised to favour politically connected candidates and demanded a court-monitored CBI probe, the PPSC chairman's resignation, and an immediate halt to further recruitment proceedings.
Dhillon also questioned the shortlisting of 751 candidates against 331 vacancies and alleged that some examination rooms had recorded success rates of nearly 46 per cent.
Congress leader Pargat Singh separately questioned the transparency of the examination, alleging technical shortcomings and raising concerns about possible examination-related leaks or irregularities in evaluation.
He demanded a CBI investigation, saying an independent inquiry was necessary to establish the facts and protect the interests of deserving candidates.
The allegations have also triggered protests by unsuccessful aspirants outside the PPSC headquarters in Patiala, where candidates have demanded cancellation of the examination, a fresh test and disclosure of evaluation-related records.
In Amritsar, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha workers led by state vice-president Prateek Kapoor burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Mann outside the BJP office at Hathi Gate.
Kapoor accused the government of compromising merit and warned of further protests if the examination was not cancelled and an independent investigation ordered.
The PPSC, however, has strongly denied wrongdoing, saying the allegations stemmed from a misinterpretation of examination statistics.
Commission chairman Major General Vinayak Saini (retired) said 3,959 candidates had appeared at 12 examination centres in Patiala, with 751 qualifying for interviews, an overall success rate of approximately 19 per cent.
The commission disputed claims that more than 24 per cent of successful candidates came from one centre, saying the highest number shortlisted from any centre was 106, or 14.1 per cent of the total.
It also rejected allegations that absent candidates had qualified, citing biometric and manual attendance records, CCTV surveillance and other security arrangements.
The commission maintained that clusters of consecutive roll numbers and variations in classroom-wise results were not, by themselves, evidence of manipulation.
Despite the growing controversy, the PPSC has scheduled document scrutiny from November 11 to 17, with interviews to follow.
The allegations have not been independently established, and no finding of recruitment fraud has been announced.
The dispute has placed the credibility of one of Punjab's most important recruitment examinations under scrutiny, with opposition parties and aspirants demanding an independent examination of the records before the selection process proceeds further.
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Tags: #Punjab Public Service Commission recruitment under fraud cloud as BJP# Congress demand CBI probe
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