Oath of Himachal public service commission chief, members postponed

Shimla, Aug 18 (IANS) In an election year in Himachal Pradesh, the oath of office by the chairman and three members of the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) was postponed at the last minute on Thursday without citing any reason.

A day earlier, the government in a notification appointed Rachna Gupta, a member of the HPPSC, as its Chairperson.

The government also appointed three as its members. They are IAS officer Rakesh Sharma, who sought superannuation on the day of his appointment, Colonel (retd) Rajesh Kumar Sharma and Om Prakash Sharma.

Journalist-turned-official Gupta's term as member of the HPPSC was to end in January 2023.

The term of HPPSC Chairperson, Ajay Kumar, a former Indian Forest Services officer, ended on August 6. All other three posts of members were vacant.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was to administer the oath to the chairman and three members of the HPPSC at Raj Bhawan here at 8.30 a.m.

Questioning Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur over the appointments, opposition Congress spokesperson Naresh Chauhan asked about the criteria of making appointments.

"I have a question for the Chief Minister. What are the criteria for making their appointments? Why the appointments were stalled midnight? He has to tell the people that what reasons for postponing (their oath) were. The Congress party wants to know from the BJP, the Chief Minister and the government," Chauhan told the media here.

He said in the just concluded legislative assembly session the government announced that in the next one-two months the government is going to make massive recruitment in government jobs through the public service commission.

"All these appointments are to be made through the public service commission. This is an election year. This is a big question. What was your intention? Are you trying to make appointments (of your well-wishers during the forthcoming recruitment drive)?" he said.

Chauhan said the issue relating to the appointments in the public service commission has reached the Prime Minister's Office and asked the government under which process they have been appointed.