The recruitment for 331 Punjab Civil Services (PCS) posts announced in January 2025 has turned into a nearly 22-month wait for aspirants, with the selection process still underway.
The PCS recruitment notification for the said posts was issued on January 3, 2025. The preliminary examination was held on December 7, 2025, and its results were declared on January 10, 2026. The Mains examination was conducted between April 1 and 10, but its results are yet to be announced.
In July, the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) had issued a public notice saying the Mains results would be declared by the end of September or in October. However, the timeline has now been pushed to November 10.
The examination was held after a gap of nearly five years, with the previous PCS examination conducted in 2020.
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PPSC chairman Maj Gen Vinayak Saini (retd) said the large number of posts was contributing to the delay.
“Had the recruitments been done annually or every alternate year, the number of posts would have been lower, and the selection process could have been completed sooner,” he said. The PPSC chairman said as the commission was prioritising transparency and uniformity in the evaluation process, which was taking time given the large number of answer booklets involved.
He said one evaluator was being assigned to assess a particular question across all answer sheets to ensure consistency in marking. With approximately 3,800 answer booklets to be checked, the exercise was taking considerable time. The commission, he said, wanted to ensure transparency and uniformity rather than rush the evaluation process.
{{/usCountry}}He said one evaluator was being assigned to assess a particular question across all answer sheets to ensure consistency in marking. With approximately 3,800 answer booklets to be checked, the exercise was taking considerable time. The commission, he said, wanted to ensure transparency and uniformity rather than rush the evaluation process.
{{/usCountry}}According to officials familiar with the matter, each evaluator is taking roughly two months to assess all the answer booklets. Professors and subject experts from different universities have been engaged in the process, but their availability has also emerged as a challenge. “The experts were being called back periodically by university authorities,” the official said, pleading anonymity.
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The two-week strike by government staff over non-payment of dearness allowance (DA) also contributed to the delay, he added.
Saini said the commission was likely to declare the mains result by November 10. “Preparations for the physical and interview rounds had already begun. The commission intends to conduct the interviews within 45 days of declaring the mains result,” the chairman said.