SHIMLA: With the 2027 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections entering the political horizon, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made a major employment move on Saturday by sanctioning over 15,000 government-sector posts in an exhaustive six-hour marathon cabinet meeting.
Facing historical anti-incumbency patterns and high youth expectations surrounding public employment, the Sukhu administration’s sweeping recruitment package prioritizes rural cadres, school education, technical institutions, and the state's healthcare network.
Core Employment Push: Education and Rural Infrastructure
The lion’s share of the recruitment drive addresses long-standing vacancies and new scheme-based requirements across schools and field departments:
Jal Shakti Vibhag: Approved the engagement of 4,090 para-workers, including Para Pump Operators, Para Fitters, and Multipurpose Workers, expanding operational field manpower across rural water schemes.
CBSE School Expansion: To implement CBSE affiliation for 100 state-run schools under a newly framed scheme, the cabinet cleared 4,800 posts (3,900 teaching and 900 non-teaching).
Higher & Technical Education: Cleared 320 posts of Assistant Professor (College Cadre) to fill backlogs in the Education Department, alongside 120 Assistant Craft Instructors and 40 Assistant Lecturers (Polytechnics) under a new engagement policy that also covers Junior Professors for engineering and pharmacy institutes.
Contractual & Outsource Relief: Approved a Limited Direct Recruitment (LDR) test for left-out School Management Committee (SMC) teachers (including PGTs and TGTs), and sanctioned an LDR mechanism to recruit Computer Teachers currently serving on an outsourced basis.
Healthcare, Forests, and Departmental Recruits
The cabinet cleared specialized vacancies and technical posts across regional and field setups:
Health and Medical Education: Sanctioned 500 Assistant Staff Nurses, 30 Radiologists, 13 Clinical Psychologists, 6 Perfusionists, 24 Medical Officers (Specialists/Super Specialists) at Dr. RPGMC Tanda, and 10 Radiographers for Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan.
Forest Department: Approved a recruitment policy for Assistant Forest Guards, opening up 500 Assistant Forest Guard posts, alongside 10 Range Forest Officers.
Public Works (PWD): Cleared 172 Multi-Task Workers and 10 Junior Engineers (Civil).
Allied Services: Approved 116 posts in Animal Husbandry, 50 posts in Horticulture (40 Extension Officers, 10 Development Officers), 18 Assistant Treasury Officers, 14 initial posts for a newly carved Directorate of Recruitment, 13 Election Kanungos, and 32 posts (2 Junior Registrars, 30 Assistant Inspectors) in the Cooperation Department.
Electoral Calculus: Honorarium Hikes and Grassroots Relief
Complementing the job rollout, the cabinet targeted key grassroots voting blocs—including rural women, border personnel, and disaster-hit regions—with revised honorariums and financial cushions:
Anganwadi & Forest Workers: Raised the monthly honorarium of Anganwadi Workers from ₹10,500 to ₹11,500 and Anganwadi Helpers from ₹5,800 to ₹6,800. Monthly honorariums for Van Mitras were hiked from ₹10,000 to ₹12,000, while Special Police Officers (SPOs) in border areas received a ₹500 monthly increase with retrospective effect from April 1, 2026.
Social Security & Farmers: Doubled the Milk Incentive Scheme assistance from ₹3 to ₹6 per liter, backed by a mandatory directive for state departments to source dairy products exclusively from Milkfed.
For reservoir fishermen, the cabinet rolled out the Mukhyamantri Machhuara Sahayata Yojana with a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of ₹100 per kg (supported by state auction subsidies up to ₹20/kg). Monthly pensions for persons with 100% disability were raised to ₹3,000.
Boh Valley Relief Package: Sanctioned a dedicated package for disaster-affected families in Boh Valley (Kangra district), granting ₹7.50 lakh for completely damaged houses, ₹1 lakh for lost belongings, ₹5,000 monthly rental support, six months of free rations, and livestock loss compensation up to ₹55,000 per milch cattle.
Administrative and Strategic Approvals
Hydro Project Crackdown: Cancelled the allotment of 33 small hydroelectric projects (under 5 MW) due to developer inaction, while directing fresh bidding for the 126 MW Chhatru and 205 MW Ropa I & III projects.
Judicial & Public Infrastructure: Cleared two dedicated fast-track NDPS courts in Kangra and Mandi to tackle narcotics smuggling; approved design and certification norms recognizing Ambulance Link Roads as a distinct road category; and sanctioned an Inter-State Bus Terminal at Shitalpur (Baddi) along with a pedestrian underpass at Chotta Shimla Chowk.
Employee Transfer Policy: Set up a cabinet sub-committee chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri to draft a structured transfer policy regulating postings of government employees within their home districts and home divisions.
