Shimla, April 17: In one of its biggest recruitment pushes yet, the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday approved the creation and filling of nearly 2,000 government posts, with a heavy tilt towards the police and forest departments—triggering fresh political chatter over the government’s priorities.
At the heart of the decision is the clearance of 1,000 posts of police constables, forming the bulk of the recruitment drive.
This is followed by 500 posts of Assistant Forest Guards, with 50 per cent reservation for Van Mitras, signalling a parallel push to strengthen field-level forest enforcement.
The Cabinet also approved multiple contractual and post-retirement engagements, including revenue officials, legal consultants and retired faculty for medical colleges—moves aimed at plugging immediate administrative and institutional gaps without long-term hiring commitments.
While the government projects the decisions as a step towards employment generation and better service delivery, critics are already questioning the “security-heavy” tilt, arguing that the emphasis on police recruitment could indicate a growing focus on enforcement over welfare.
Alongside the hiring spree, the Cabinet rolled out a significant hike in MSP for key crops like wheat, maize, barley, turmeric and naturally grown ginger—an attempt to balance the narrative with a pro-farmer push.
It also approved simplification of fire NOC norms, amendments to ensure timely social security pension disbursal, and allotment of 71 small hydro projects to private players.
In a parallel move, Param Vir Chakra awardee Sanjay Kumar will be engaged from May 1 to motivate youth to join the armed forces.
The twin messaging—jobs through uniformed services and incentives for natural farming—clearly underlines the Sukhu government’s attempt to walk a tightrope between governance, employment optics, and political perception.
