PCS Exam: Former deputy speaker slams Punjab govt over delay

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 27

Former Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh today came down heavily on the state government over the delay in taking measures to fill vacancies of the Punjab Civil Services.

He said the chairman, Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), had retired but the AAP-led Punjab Government was dilly-dallying the process to fill the post. This is while the PPSC has drawn much ire over the delay in conducting recruitment exams and releasing results.

Bir Devinder Singh said the PPSC should have advertised the vacancies in Punjab Civil Services to select deserving candidates. “But no initiative appears to have been taken either by the state government or by the PPSC in past three years. Many candidates have lost hopes to serve in the Punjab Civil Services due to the uninspiring and callous attitude of the current and previous state governments,” he alleged.

He said PPSC Chairman Jagbans Singh retired last Saturday. Having a dig at Cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, he said the minister, during the previous Congress government, had vociferously condemned the inordinate delay in appointment of PPSC chairman. “But now, the AAP government has miserably failed in advertising the vacancies.”

The commission had taken more than six years to release the result of recruitment for the post of a joint director in the Department of Information and Public Relations from the date of advertisement.

Meanwhile, PPSC Secretary Simerpreet Kaur said the commission had not received any direction to begin the process for direct recruitment to fill vacancies of Punjab Civil Services from the state government. She said the presence of PPSC Chairman was required to carry out such works, adding that the process to fill the top post was already going on.