“No hiring has taken place in the last four years in any state government posts through the Common Eligibility Test (CET),” claimed Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Bhiwani in Haryana.
The 33-year-old has been preparing for the CET exam to land a Group-C job in the Haryana government for more than five years. He used to be a teacher in a private school, until he gave up the job in 2019 to focus on self-study and crack the exam.
But even after taking the recruitment exam more than four times — between 2021 and today — Rakesh is still waiting for a job. As are nearly eight lakh candidates, who appeared for exams to at least 32,000 posts in the Haryana government.
The process of conducting the exam and declaring the results has faced a prolonged delay due to an alleged paper leak, court cases, the introduction of CET in 2022, and most-recently, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
With Assembly elections due in Haryana on 5 October, the Election Commission enforced MCC in Haryana from 16 August — prohibiting the government to announce any major policies or schemes.
As an extension to this, the poll body on 21 August asked the BJP-led Haryana government to not declare results of recruitment exams. This was in response to a letter sent by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. (More on this later)
The insufferable delay in declaring the results has now brought the youth to the streets in Haryana, and the national capital Delhi. On 31 August, hundreds of candidates gathered in Rohtak, saying they’ll boycott polling if their recruitment is not completed promptly.
Candidates tell The Quint about what caused the delay in the recruitment process, how the wait is costing them their livelihood and why assurances by political parties mean nothing to them.
‘Recruitment Exam Leaked, Cancelled, Delayed’
It all started in 2021, when the exam for the post of gram sachiv conducted on 9-10 January was cancelled due to an alleged paper leak. The Haryana Staff Service Commission (HSSC) had conducted the exam and over 7 lakh candidates had appeared for 700 posts.
“The dates for the re-exam did not come until the next year, after applications for the posts of gram sachiv, patwari, canal patwari were opened several times across 10 months,” Rakesh (name changed) told The Quint.
The exam, which was then scheduled to be held on 7-9 January 2022, was again cancelled “on administrative grounds” by an HSSC notification dated 31 December 2021.
Meanwhile, in September 2021, the Haryana government introduced the Common Eligibility Test (CET) to “simplify and standardise the recruitment process of Group C and Group D candidates.”
This meant that recruitment to all posts in Group C, excluding teaching posts, and Group D will take place through Haryana CET.
While Group D includes posts such as sweeper, driver, watchman, helper, etc. And requires candidates to be at least Class 10th pass, Group C includes posts such as clerks, accountants, patwaris, and gram sachivs and requires candidates to be Class 12th pass and above (graduate/postgraduate).
Over 10 lakh (10,03,893) candidates registered for the Haryana CET exam, which was held on 5-6 November 2022.
Then HSSC Chairman Bhpoal Singh Khadri had told The Indian Express that on the basis of this exam, at least 22,000 will be selected directly for Group D; while selected Group C candidates will have another round of screening before 40,000 are selected.
'High Court Rules on Marks Based on Socio-Economic Status; Halts Results’
“Among lakhs of candidates who took the exam, I got a rank of 350. I would’ve been selected for the post of gram sachiv three years back had it not been for the delays,” said 28-year-old Amar Dangi, a resident of Rohtak.
HSSC declared the results for Group C candidates in January 2023, but the next rounds of screening – which includes a written test followed by an interview – were again delayed. The recruitment process began in April 2023, a month later than expected.
According to a HSSC notice, over 7.73 candidates appeared for the Group C preliminary exam, of which nearly half, or 3.57 lakh candidates, qualified for the next round of written examination for 31, 592 posts.
“Within Group C, posts were divided into 63 categories. The second round of written exam was held on 5-6 August only for candidates who had applied for posts under two categories — 56 and 57,” explained Amar, who has applied for the same posts.
In the meantime, a particular clause of the exam was being contended in the Punjab and Haryana High Court as being opaque and eluding scrutiny.
The CET exam allows a candidate 5 percent of the exam’s total marks can be drawn by the candidate based on certain pre-defined socio-economic criteria such as if the candidate is divorced, widowed, belongs to a denotified tribe (Vimukt Jatis and Tapriwas Jatis), etc.
The High Court on 4 August 2023 directed the HSSC to verify claims of candidates getting additional marks under socio-economic criteria and revise the list of eligible candidates. Until then, it barred HSSC from declaring the result of 12,000 Group C candidates, who took the exam for posts under categories 56 and 57.
'Postgraduates, PhD Holders Apply For Group D Posts'
On 21-22 October 2023, HSSC conducted exams for over 13,500 posts under Group D, for which 13.75 lakh candidates applied.
“I was so tired of waiting for Group C results that we applied for Group D posts as well, even when I was overqualified,” said Rakesh, who is a post-graduate and has an M.Sc degree in Mathematics. He claimed that many postgraduates and PhD holders applied for Group D posts.
“This is the reason that more than 13 lakh candidates applied for 13k seats in Group D as compared to 7 lakh for 32k seats in Group C,” Rakesh explained.
Between December 2023 and January 2024, HSSC conducted screening exams to posts for 24 other categories under Group C, the results of which trickled in February.
On 31 May, the Punjab and Haryana HC quashed the contentious policy of granting additional 5 percent marks based on socio-economic criteria, calling it “unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India.”
It also quashed results declared in January 2023 and directed the Haryana govt to prepare a fresh merit list based only on the marks obtained in CET within the next six months.
“For one post, I have taken the exams six times, and I still don’t have a job,” lamented Amar, who has been preparing for the exam for seven years now. The revised merit list for Haryana CET exam for Group C posts was put out in June, and the second round of screening for a few groups was held in August.
'Election Commission Halts Results'
“Har baar umeed toot jaati hai,” Rakesh mourned as now the results of the second round have been delayed due to the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct in Haryana.
On 21 August, the poll body responded to a letter by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in which he had alleged MCC violations by the BJP-led Haryana government.
It said that on 16 August – the date of announcement of elections in Haryana – the government “first announced and subsequently issued advertisement for recruitment against 5, 600 vacancies for the post of Constable in the Haryana Police...It further announced 76 vacancies for TGT and PTI posts in Haryana State Services.”
The Election Commission observed that since there is no bar for continuing the regular recruitment process by the UPSC, State Public Service Commissions or the Staff Selection Commission, there is no MCC violation.
However, it directed the state government to not declare results of these recruitments till Assembly elections conclude in Haryana “in order to maintain the level playing field and to ensure that no undue advantage is accrued to anyone.”
'CET Held Only Once Since 2022; Govt Has No Intent to Fill Posts'
Affected candidates told The Quint that they met with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini as well as Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda.
“Saini told us that EC’s decision came after Ramesh’s letter and he asked us to request the Congress to withdraw it. When we met Hooda in Delhi, he assured us that they will take it up after nominations are filed,” Amar said.
Contending that there is “no link” between declaring results of recruitment exams held in 2022-23 and Ramesh’s letter, which flags new job advertisements, Rakesh declared, “Ye sab jumla hai ji.”
Meanwhile, Amar asserted that CET has been held only once in November 2022, even when the government policy clearly states that it is to be held once every year. He recalled that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Haryana government on 9 July to conduct CET-2023 within the next eight weeks.
“It is now that they are blaming it on MCC but the truth is this government has never shown the intent to create jobs or fill posts,” Amar claimed. He added that by stretching the process, the government has tied the candidates in an "endless loop" where they have to keep preparing and taking the exam. "We can't even look for another job," he mourned.
Rakesh added that the candidates will boycott elections if their results are not declared and seats not filled urgently.
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