42 posts caught in a glitch: Three years on, Punjab Bhasha Vibhag recruitment still on hold

Three years on and appointment letters for 42 Research Assistant posts remain frozen as Punjab’s Language Department grapples with a dispute surrounding the reservation roster and selection process.

In July 2025, the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board (PSSSB) initially forwarded 22 candidates to the department.

Director Jaswant Singh Zafar is now seeking permission to appoint 35 candidates, keeping the remaining seven vacancies pending until reservation-related issues are resolved. The latest dispute is between Zafar and administrative secretary Sonali Giri.

In a show-cause notice dated August 26, 2026, Giri accused Zafar of negligence over the reservation roster and the way its details were included in the recruitment request sent to PSSSB. Zafar has disputed responsibility, saying the recruitment process began before he took charge as director on June 25, 2024.

The recruitment was challenged in court, halted by the state government in September 2025 and cancelled by PSSSB in December that year.

Zafar has since urged the government to allow appointments to proceed for candidates cleared by the Board, while Giri told The Indian Express an inquiry into the issues raised is under way.

From advertisement to court challenge

The department sent its formal request for 42 Research Assistant posts to PSSSB on July 12, 2023. The Board advertised the vacancies in August, with September 27, 2023, as the last date to apply.

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Candidates were required to hold a postgraduate degree with at least 55 per cent marks from a recognised university or institution. A degree in Punjabi, Hindi or English was preferred, subject to the other eligibility conditions.

The board conducted the written examination on February 22, 2025, and published a tentative common merit list-cum-result of around 110 candidates on July 3. The final 42 selections were to follow document scrutiny.

On July 11, the Board sent a list of 22 candidates to the department for further action towards appointment.

Three candidates — Sandeep Kaur, Arshdeep Singh and Lovepreet Singh — approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 7, challenging the result and seeking fresh scrutiny and a corrected merit list.

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They alleged that candidates’ eligibility and reservation claims had been assessed incorrectly. Their objections included the counting of teaching experience allegedly gained while pursuing MPhil or PhD degrees, citing University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations dated July 18, 2018.

They also questioned whether dissertations submitted for MPhil, MTech, MCom and MCA programmes could be accepted as the creative-writing or research evidence required under the advertisement, which specified articles, research papers in reputed journals, books or three years of teaching experience.

The petitioners also raised the issue of the mandatory 33 per cent horizontal, compartmentalised reservation for women, and sought the correct application of government instructions on adjusting meritorious SC/BC candidates selected against unreserved seats.

The state government halted the process on September 24, 2025, and sought the relevant records. The board earlier cancelled the recruitment in December 2025 amid the controversy and legal challenge.

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Zafar seeks appointments, Giri orders inquiry

In a letter dated August 20, 2025, Zafar questioned why PSSSB had forwarded only 22 names against 42 advertised vacancies. He also alleged that additional educational qualifications and literary contributions were not assessed and criticised the time taken to conduct the examination.

In his October 9, 2026, letter to Giri, Zafar said the Board had cleared 35 candidates for appointment after considering the women reservation. He sought permission to issue their appointment letters as the court did not stay the recruitment. He also proposed the remaining seven vacancies be kept pending as a backlog if reservation requirements for particular categories remained unresolved.

Zafar said the department had earlier written to the PSSSB chairman on December 17, 2025, requesting that the entire recruitment not be cancelled because of reservation-related discrepancies. Instead, it proposed appointing candidates whose selection would not violate reservation rules.

He also cited clarifications sent to the administrative department on October 15, 2025, and January 2, 2026, and a request dated June 26, 2026, seeking permission to issue appointment letters.

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The October 9 letter, marked to Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the PSSSB chairman, said Zafar, as the appointing authority for Research Assistants, was answerable in litigation concerning the non-issuance of appointment letters.

It warned that prolonged withholding of appointments could have adverse consequences for the department and the government in court.

Giri’s show-cause notice alleged that reservation points were incorrectly represented in the original recruitment request and that the issue contributed to litigation and cancellation. She also alleged that the discrepancy was not corrected when the process was taken up again.

Zafar replied that the original request predated his appointment and said the officer knew who was responsible for maintaining the roster. Asked about the recruitment delay and the issues raised, Giri said an inquiry had been initiated into these and other matters.

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Its findings would be shared once they were conclusive, she said.