Jaipur: Probationary sub-inspectors from the now-cancelled 2021 recruitment batch staged a protest in Jaipur Friday, calling the govt’s decision “unfair” and accusing authorities of abandoning innocent trainees caught in the fallout of the recruitment scandal.The protest erupted hours after Rajasthan Public Service Commission cancelled the controversial Sub-Inspector 2021 examination, bringing the entire recruitment cycle to an end after nearly two years of investigations, arrests and allegations of organised cheating.Kamlesh, a probationary SI from the 2021 batch, said the recruits were neither given a proper hearing nor any prior indication that the exam would be scrapped. “What kind of natural justice is it where, for the sake of a few rotten apples, the entire recruitment process has been junked?” he said.Another probationer said the uncertainty had left many recruits in limbo for nearly two years. “What should we do with our uniforms now? We have been languishing in police lines across Rajasthan without any work for such a long time,” she said. She added that many probationers felt they were being viewed with suspicion despite not being accused in any criminal case. “Even senior officials look at us as if we are guilty,” she said.Family members of these probationers also joined the protest, saying several recruits had left other govt jobs after clearing the SI examination. Anil Kumar, a relative of one of the probationers, alleged that the state govt was “misled” into cancelling the recruitment. “The govt did not initially want to cancel the exam, but some people gave the impression that the entire 2021 batch was corrupt,” he claimed.Sources in the Rajasthan Police Academy said many probationers had already resumed preparations for the fresh SI examination, anticipating the possibility of cancellation amid the prolonged controversy. Officials posted in police lines where the probationers were attached also said the same.
