Election Commission halts result announcements of ongoing recruitments till completion of Haryana Assembly polls

New Delhi [India], August 21 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday stopped the result announcements of the ongoing recruitment process in Haryana until the completion of assembly elections in the state.
The elections to the 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana will be held in a single phase on October 1 and the counting of votes will take place on October 4.
The Commission took cognizance of the complaint received from Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, regarding violation of the Model Code of Conduct in the process of recruitment against 5600 vacancies for the post of Constable in the Haryana Police, 76 posts of TGT and PTI by Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) and recruitment for various posts by Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC).
The Commission sought a detailed report from the State Government and found that 600 posts of Female Constables (General duty) and 4000 posts of Male Constables (General Duty) were requisitioned/ uploaded on the HSSC portal by DGP Haryana on 03.07.2024 and 1000 posts of Male Constable (IRB) were requisitioned/ uploaded on the HSSC portal on July 9, 2024.
"The advertisement regarding 5600 posts of police constable and 76 posts of TGT and PTI were published on the website of HSSC at 01:45 pm on 16.08.2024. The recruitment relates to regular appointments and there was no separate announcement in this regard and only advertisement was issued on 16.08.2024 at 01:45 PM on HSSC website, for the posts already referred to HSSC by the sponsoring authority i.e. DGP, State of Haryana," the Commission stated.
It further stated that with respect to the recruitment for the 38 posts by HPSC, the recruitment was already under process before August 16, 2024.
"For 16 categories of posts, HPSC had already notified the schedule on 08.07.2024, for the conduct of examinations. F the post of the Ayurvedic Medical Officer in health and Ayush Department, the scheme of the pattern of the screening test was notified on 18.07.2024, wherein the date for screening test was notified for 22.09.2024," it added.
"For the post of Assistant Architect, Architecture department the scheme/pattern of the screening test was notified on 13.08.2024, wherein the date for screening test was notified for 29.09.2024. With regard to recruitment for the posts of Post Graduate Teachers, the schedule for these category of posts was in pursuance to the requisitions received from the department and advertisement made thereto," it added.
The ECI MCC instructions do not bar the continuing regular recruitment process by UPSC, State Public Service Commission or the Staff Selection Commission or any other statutory authority.
It stated, " Regular recruitment or promotion through UPSC, State Public Service Commission or the Staff Selection Commission or any other statutory authority can continue. Recruitments through non-statutory bodies will require prior clearance of the Commission."
After ascertaining the facts from the State Government and in view of the existing MCC instructions, the Commission found no violation of Model Code of Conduct in the ongoing recruitment process by HSSC and HPSC.
The Commission has found that the recruitment process was initiated before the announcement of elections and is within the existing MCC instructions as stated above, where statutory authorities can continue their work.
However, in order to maintain level playing field and to ensure that no undue advantage is accrued to anyone, the Commission has directed that announcement of results of these recruitment by the concerned authorities (HSSC and HPSC) shall not be released till completion of assembly elections in the state.
In Haryana, there are a total of 2.01 crore voters in Haryana, of which 1.06 crore are males, 0.95 crores are females, 4.52 lakhs are first-time voters and 40.95 lakhs are young voters.