Shimla: The State Public Service Commission has received more than 98,000 applications for police constable recruitment till September 1, 2026, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the Assembly.
He clarified that the September 5 application deadline would not be extended, as doing so could stall the entire recruitment process by up to six months, with winter approaching.
Presenting recruitment-related data in the House, Sukhu said the Commission had categorically rejected claims of its portal being down or malfunctioning as rumours.
The Commission has stated that the candidates were given ample time and the portal is operating smoothly without any technical issues, he said.
Hundreds of youths successfully filled out forms on August 31 and September 1 without difficulty. Currently, an average of 200-300 male and 150-200 female candidates have been successfully applying each day, he added.
Under the rules, physical standard tests and physical efficiency tests must be conducted across all 12 districts. If the deadline were extended further, conducting ground tests would become extremely difficult due to the onset of winter. This would cause an additional delay of approximately six months in the entire recruitment process, which is not justifiable from any perspective, the government said.
After the publication of recruitment advertisement on July 10, approximately 65,000 applications were received initially.
On August 21, the government granted a one-time relaxation of one year in the maximum age limit for all candidates. This added 11,000 new applications, bringing the total to 77,000.
By September 1, a five-year age relaxation was granted to Home Guard personnel, and the deadline was set for September 5. During this period, approximately 21,000 additional applications were received and as on September 1 evening, the total number of applications received was 98,719.
Immediately after the Question Hour ended, BJP MLA from Barsar, Indradutt Lakhanpal, raised the issue on a point of order and urged the chief minister to consider that several youths had missed the opportunity to apply due to technical glitches in the portal and intervening holidays.
The MLA claimed that when the portal is accessed, the names or details of many applicants fail to register. In light of these difficulties faced by the applicants, he requested an additional five days to file applications.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
