HP govt is 'making excuses' regarding results declaration: BJP extends support to protesting job aspirants

The BJP on Friday accused the Congress government of deliberately making excuses regarding the declaration of the pending results of the examination conducted by the former Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission.

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, who met the protesting candidates, along with other BJP MLAs assured them of his party's support and said the court has directed the government to declare the pending results.

''But the state government is making excuses by saying the matter is under investigation and, therefore, the results cannot be declared,'' he added.

Urging the government to declare the results at the earliest, Thakur said that he has raised the issue in the House as well.

The BJP leader said it is clear that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu led government does not intend to declare the results and is unnecessarily delaying declaration of results.

''There are many candidates, who are about to reach the age of 45. If the results are not declared on time, they will never be able to get government job,'' Thakur said.

Escalating his attack on the present regime, he said, ''The Congress government has stopped all developmental works in the state.'' The candidates of junior office assistant (Information Technology), secretariat clerks and drawing masters, have been sitting on dharna along with their families at Chaura Maidan near the Vidhan Sabha and are demanding early declaration of results.

Independent MLA from Dehra assembly seat, Hoshiyar Singh, also joined the dharna for a while.

The Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), Hamirpur, was scrapped in February 2023, two months after the paper leak was unearthed on December 23, 2022, when the vigilance arrested commission's senior assistant Uma Azad with solved question paper and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash and later the results of several examinations were held when vigilance pointed out irregularities in examinations.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Sundernagar, Rakesh Jamwal, raised this issue in the House and said the results are not being declared even after 14 months.

Jamwal asked that when the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Chayan Aayog (HPRCA), which replaced the HPSSC, would start the recruitment progress.

The chief minister reiterated his earlier stand on the issue and told the House that the protestors' sitting on dharna are those who appeared in the examination in 2022 during the BJP regime.

Sukhu said that youths have been cheated as incompetent candidates were appointed by leaking the papers for three to four years and ''we are trying to resolve the problem''.

He said the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission is doing the recruitments now and about 2,000-2,500 persons have been recruited and appointments letters would be given to them in April 2024.

Sukhu added that henceforth, computer-based test would be held, infrastructure is being developed and the process of appointment of the HPRCA chairperson has started.

Congress MLA from Sujanpur assembly seat, Rajinder Rana, had earlier shot a letter to the chief minister and said the youth is still waiting for jobs even after 14 months of government formation.

''We had promised to provide employment to one lakh youth every year and the youth of the state are eagerly waiting for the fulfillment of that promise,'' he had said in his letter also posted on Facebook.