Chandigarh: Senior Congress functionary and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala on Sunday accused the BJP govt in Haryana of “injustice and manipulation” in recruitment.He alleged that repeated changes in rules and prolonged selection processes were depriving Scheduled Caste, Backward Classes, Economically Weaker Sections and poor candidates of govt jobs.Reacting to the Punjab and Haryana high court verdict in the assistant professor recruitment case, Surjewala said the court’s direction to the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) to issue a fresh result vindicated candidates who had challenged the introduction of a new eligibility condition after the recruitment process had begun.The HPSC advertised 2,424 assistant professor posts across subjects on Aug 2, 2024. Surjewala said a new condition relating to the National Eligibility Test (NET) was subsequently introduced, prompting candidates to approach the court. He alleged that the change adversely affected candidates’ eligibility and selection prospects.Surjewala said NET was a qualifying criterion and final selection should be based on merit and the prescribed recruitment procedure. He also contended that reserved-category candidates meeting the required merit could not be excluded from general-category consideration merely on the basis of the NET cut-off if the recruitment rules did not expressly bar such consideration.“Why is the BJP govt so hostile towards talented children belonging to the SC and BC communities?” he asked, alleging that candidates from poor families spend years preparing for competitive exams only to face changing rules and prolonged uncertainty.He claimed that the problem extended beyond the assistant professor recruitment. Citing English assistant professor and PGT recruitments, Surjewala said 462 of 613 English assistant professor posts and 1,672 of 1,711 PGT posts remained vacant despite examinations being conducted.The parliamentarian alleged that recruitment advertisements had become “tokens of false hope” as thousands of posts remained vacant while qualified candidates, including those with NET, JRF and PhD qualifications, continued to wait for appointments.Surjewala demanded a review of all pending recruitments, immediate filling of vacant posts and transparent implementation of the high court order. He cautioned govt and the HPSC against introducing further technical hurdles that could delay the process.“Haryana’s youth do not want advertisements; they want employment. They do not want assurances; they want appointments. They do not want discrimination; they want justice,” he said.
