Over the last four years, Punjab has witnessed a significant disruption in its hiring processes for crucial government positions in education and health, with numerous recruitments being either scrapped or postponed primarily due to ongoing litigation. The latest casualty is the rescheduling of hiring for 200 psychologists for de-addiction centres and OOAT clinics, a process that was being conducted on an outsourcing basis.
A Trail of Stalled Recruitment Drives
This pattern of delays affects initiatives started during the previous Congress government, many of which remain unresolved. A prominent example is the recruitment for 2,000 Physical Training Instructor (PTI) posts and 5,994 Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) cadre positions, advertised by the Director of Elementary Education on December 16, 2021. The advertisement was later withdrawn on August 10, 2025, after candidates with higher qualifications like BPEd or MPEd challenged the criteria in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They successfully argued that favouring diploma holders over degree holders contravened previous judicial rulings.
The ETT recruitment, meanwhile, is stuck due to the procedural complexity of de-reserving posts where eligible candidates from reserved categories were not found. In the health sector, the process for the 200 psychologists was rescheduled even after 180 candidates had undergone written tests and document verification.
Legal Challenges Halt Key Administrative Posts
The ripple effect of litigation has impacted various departments. In 2023, the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board (PSSSB) advertised 42 posts for research assistants in the state languages department. Despite holding the written exam in February 2025, the entire process was scrapped in December of the same year following High Court challenges over alleged arbitrary relaxations in eligibility criteria.
Similarly, the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) had advertised 198 senior assistant posts in 2022. A joint competitive examination was slated for February 23, 2025, but the PPSC issued a notice on February 6, 2025, postponing it indefinitely citing administrative reasons.
High-Profile Cancellations and Political Accusations
In a major setback, the Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, quashed the recruitment of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians, declaring it arbitrary and not in line with UGC norms. The court, however, allowed currently recruited individuals to retain their positions until a fresh process begins.
Earlier, the education department's recruitment for 343 lecturer posts (Group B), advertised on January 8, 2022, was cancelled on September 29, 2023, to reset qualification and service rules with a promise of re-advertisement.
These serial delays have sparked strong political reactions. Sukhwinder Singh Dhilwan, convener of the Berojgar Sanjha Morcha, accused the state government of using court orders as a pretext to delay hiring. He highlighted that recruitment for 645 assistant professors and 250 art and craft teachers is also stalled. "We have been protesting indefinitely in Sangrur for over a week regarding these delays," Dhilwan stated.
Congress MLA and former education minister Pargat Singh, under whose tenure the processes for 1,158 assistant professors and 2,000 PTIs began, defended the initial moves. "It was a conscious decision to make transparent, corruption-free recruitments," he said, adding, "The AAP government had ample time to complete the stalled recruitments, but it seems more interested in only making claims and not doing enough for the unemployed to get jobs."
The situation paints a grim picture for job seekers in Punjab, where legal entanglements and administrative hurdles have collectively brought vital recruitment in core public services to a standstill, exacerbating unemployment frustrations.
