Rajasthan HC Directs Govt to Include Eligible OBC Candidates in Assistant Agriculture Officer Recruitment Interviews

Jaipur- In a significant development, the Rajasthan High Court has issued an interim stay on the results of the Assistant Agriculture Officer Recruitment Examination-2018. The court has also directed the inclusion of eligible OBC candidates in the interview process.

Justice Sameer Jain's single bench issued this order during the preliminary hearing of a petition filed by Gajanand Kumawat and others, raising critical concerns about the recruitment process conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC).

The recruitment for the Assistant Agriculture Officer posts was initiated by the RPSC in 2018. Following the written examination, the RPSC released a model answer key in July 2019 and invited objections from the candidates. Subsequently, on December 17, 2019, the RPSC shortlisted 403 candidates for interviews, adhering to the policy of calling twice the number of candidates than the total number of available posts, which is 176.

Representing the petitioners, advocate Harendra Neel highlighted several procedural lapses and grievances in the recruitment process. The petitioners contended that the evaluation criteria were divided into three parts: 40 percent marks from academic examinations, 40 percent from the written examination held in 2019, and 20 percent from the interview.

However, they argued that the RPSC failed to address objections raised regarding the answer key and did not release the revised answer key.

Furthermore, the petition pointed out the absence of a category-wise cut-off and the cut-off for parallel reservation quotas, which include reservations for women, sportspersons, and government employees.

This omission, the petitioners claim, resulted in OBC candidates, who scored higher than the general category cut-off, not being called for the interview.

As a result, they were denied the benefit of reservation.

One of the petitioners emphasized that despite scoring higher than the general category cut-off, he was not shortlisted for the interview. Harendra Neel stated that there are about 13 known candidates in a similar predicament, although there could be more who have not approached the court.

Court's Order

In response to these grievances, the court has directed the inclusion of the petitioners in the interview process.

Additionally, the court has issued notices to key officials, including the Agriculture Secretary, Agriculture Commissioner, and the Secretary of the RPSC, seeking their responses to the petition.

The court's order brings temporary relief to the aggrieved candidates, while also putting the spotlight on the procedural aspects of recruitment examinations, especially concerning reservations and the handling of objections.