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Vishal Maurya boarded the Ganga Sutlej Express at Akbarpur Junction successful Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) connected June 8. The 22-year-old was headed to Lucknow, 194 kilometres distant by rail. Across the seven-hour journey, what played successful Maurya’s caput connected loop was a plea. All helium wanted was to walk the constable-rank introspection to beryllium held connected June 10 successful Uttar Pradesh’s capital.
Maurya is from Ghughurpatti in Ambedkar Nagar district, and passed retired of schoolhouse 4 years ago. If helium gets done the test, helium hopes to alteration the lives of his parents and assistance generations of disadvantages disconnected their shoulders.
His parents enactment arsenic cultivation labourers successful their village, and don’t ain land. “When they find work, they gain ₹300. I aspire to alteration their fortunes. I studied diligently for the exam, inspired by my online teacher who shares motivational stories of youths from akin backgrounds who person succeeded successful becoming constables,” Maurya said. He added that for generations they had “lived a beingness of inferiority”. This was an accidental “for radical similar america to alteration our lives”. Maurya is simply a first-generation learner. He works part-time arsenic a operation labourer.
On June 9, helium was successful Lucknow’s Charbagh railway station, with thousands of others who had arrived to instrumentality the exam. Charbagh is Lucknow’s main railway station, situated successful the bosom of the U.P. capital, conscionable 3 km from Hazratganj, the downtown area and main buying centre of Lucknow. Hazratganj remained overcrowded with candidates for the U.P. constabulary posts written examination. Held crossed June 8-10, each trains departing from oregon arriving astatine the presumption were afloat booked. Thousands of U.P. constable aspirants basal connected the floors, with galore sitting successful the lavatories of the trains. On the platforms, determination is hardly immoderate abstraction to walk. Thousands queue up to complaint their phones via a fewer twelve charging points.
In the past week of December, 2025, U.P. notified 32,679 posts of constabulary constables and equivalent positions, the lowest class of the workforce nether the State constabulary force. The registration process, which began connected December 31, 2025, and ended connected January 30, 2026, led to 28.86 lakh aspirants filling the signifier to look successful the written trial astatine 1,183 centres crossed 75 districts. More than 1.35 lakh candidates were allocated trial centres successful Lucknow.
The level of possibility
At the bid station, Maurya’s communicative recovered resonance with a stranger, Vaibhav Chaudhary, 24, from Gorakhpur, a B.Tech graduate successful Computer Science. Screen-locking his OPPO A3x5G smartphone, helium said, “Everyone successful this oversea of radical has a communicative filled with urgency, desperation, hope, and aspiration for this job. While taking the exam, I thought of my 15-year-old sister and the request to supply her with amended acquisition opportunities, truthful she won’t person to conflict arsenic I did.”
Chaudhary battled the 40 degrees Celsius vigor successful a yellowish vest. He was returning from Barabanki, astir 20 km from Lucknow, aft taking the recruitment examination. To beryllium eligible to qualify, radical indispensable beryllium betwixt 18 and 27 years, depending connected the job, gender, and reservation, and person passed people 12, the highest schoolhouse examination.
Chaudhary works arsenic a gig idiosyncratic in Gorakhpur. He says determination are hardly immoderate private-sector bureau jobs that lucifer his education. “I was offered a ₹20,000 occupation successful an IT steadfast in Noida. It was intolerable to past determination connected specified a debased salary,” helium said. Noida is in U.P. and is simply a portion of the National Capital Region. “A constable’s occupation is overmuch amended than poorly paid engineering jobs. It provides occupation information and stableness and includes charismatic perks and societal information benefits, similar aesculapian security and gratuity.” His parents are marginal farmers with 4 acres of land.
The platforms were afloat of stories of radical coming successful for exams, oregon leaving after, oregon coming backmost aft penning them. “I intentionally missed 5 trains earlier boarding the Suhaildev Superfast express, but I inactive had to question successful the bathroom,” said Pushpesh Kumar, 21, a second-year BA English Literature pupil who took online coaching for the test. He took the exam due to the fact that “There are hardly immoderate occupation opportunities for English graduates. I americium moving arsenic a backstage tutor, making ends meet, preparing for authorities jobs.” His program B is simply a authorities teaching job, “but that is simply a agelong roadworthy arsenic I request to bash a B. Ed (Bachelor’s successful Education).”
Sensing the monolithic influx of candidates, U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) to supply 50% concession connected fares to candidates appearing for the examination. They simply had to contiguous their admit cards to autobus conductors. Despite this, the nationalist transport strategy was overcrowded for astatine slightest 3 days successful the State, with galore passengers having pre-booked bid tickets complaining of not being capable to committee the bid due to the fact that of the immense unreserved of young aspirants astatine aggregate railway junctions.
Testing, testing
Over 21.92 lakh aspirants appeared successful the examination. The written trial consisted of 150 objective-type multiple-choice questions of 2 marks each. The written introspection syllabus was divided into 4 sections: General Studies, General Hindi, Numerical and Mental Ability tests, and Reasoning.
The Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UPPRPB), the recruiting agency, volition hole a database of shortlisted candidates who passed the written trial connected a day yet to beryllium announced. Since 2008, the UPPRPB has been entrusted to behaviour selections for assorted non-gazetted posts, including that of the U.P. constable. A elder Indian Police Service (IPS) serviceman arsenic Chairman of the bureau heads and oversees each the activities that hap successful the board.
The 2nd signifier is the Physical Standard Test (PST), wherever tallness volition beryllium checked. For wide and Other Backward Class (OBC) antheral candidates, the minimum tallness request is 168 cm, portion the minimum thorax measurement request is 79 cm (without expansion) and 84 cm (with expansion). For wide and OBC females, the minimum tallness request is 152 cm and the minimum value is 40 kilograms.
In the last stage, the candidates request to marque it done a carnal ratio test, successful which men indispensable tally a region of 4.8 km successful 25 minutes and pistillate candidates 2.4 km successful 14 minutes. A caller entrant volition gain astir ₹21,700 a month, with a slew of benefits enjoyed by authorities servants.
Struggle and hope
Candidates extracurricular an introspection centre successful Lucknow, wherever they sat for the trial to suffice arsenic a constable. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
A conception of the candidates appearing successful the recruitment thrust hails from farming families warring to marque ends conscionable successful the Hindi headland. A ample fig is besides from the educated, salaried conception of society.
Aman Singh, 22, is a BSc Biotechnology grade holder from Basti district successful eastern U.P. His begetter is simply a retired teacher who taught classes 11 and 12. “I worked successful a Dehradun-based steadfast for a fewer months. I filed the constable signifier arsenic it is escaped from backstage assemblage volatility and provides extortion against lay offs,” helium said. Singh added that helium near his occupation arsenic the wages were lone ₹18,000 per month. “The institution believes determination is simply a monolithic oversupply of labour, hence astatine the entry-level, they support salaries debased and stagnant. Now, I unrecorded with my household in Basti, and I americium preparing for authorities jobs.”
Up to 9.24 lakh women candidates filed the form, with the bulk of them being accompanied by astatine slightest 1 antheral household subordinate successful the journey.
Rachna Yadav, 24, from Lucknow, who has a BA successful Economics, and teaches successful a backstage school, has a akin communicative to tell: “In the backstage sector, we get informal and poorly-paid jobs.” Her father, who is an electrician, was carrying the luggage, protecting her from the crowd. He said, “For radical similar us, a authorities occupation is the lone mode towards upward societal and economical mobility. Every idiosyncratic who is appearing is simply a struggler here; their household is struggling successful this materialistic world.”
Vibhuti Narain Rai, a 1975-batch IPS serviceman from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, served arsenic the Director General of Police until helium retired. He says, successful agrarian parts of the State, lone a sarkari naukari (government job), adjacent if it’s astatine the lowest rung, is considered a job, arsenic it commands respect and authorization successful society.
“In a volatile economical scenario, sarkari naukari is a life-long information net, whereas successful backstage jobs opportunities are shrinking and instability is common,” helium said. “Two radical astatine the aforesaid level volition get one-third the wage successful a backstage job. I was vice-chancellor of a cardinal university, and retired of 8 drivers, 4 were permanently appointed done a recruitment exercise. They were getting implicit ₹45,000 arsenic salary, isolated from societal information benefits. The 4 drivers who were hired connected a impermanent ground were getting hardly ₹18,000 without benefits. People privation to beryllium afloat employed by the government.”
Someone selected for a constable presumption whitethorn emergence to the station of Inspector successful the State constabulary unit aft serving astir 25 years successful the constabulary service. He said the archetypal 2 years are a probation period. It mostly takes 8-10 years successful work to beryllium promoted to the presumption of caput constable, past 8-10 years successful work for promotion to sub-inspector. A squad of a constable, a caput constable, and an Assistant Sub-Inspector signifier the backbone of the police. “They are the archetypal to scope the spot successful a law-and-order situation,” Rai said. It’s the constable’s occupation to support ties with section informers.
A awesome of desperation
Critics alleged that the staggering fig of occupation seekers signifies aggregate challenges facing Uttar Pradesh. “Over 80 candidates competing for 1 constable station is simply a marker of galore crises successful the State. It points to the information that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led authorities failed successful generating employment opportunities for millions of young radical successful the State,” said Udai Veer Singh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson. He added that the authorities makes claims of concern from large companies, but thing is changing connected the ground. “With changeless insubstantial leaks, the younker are wasting distant their years. Well-qualified radical are applying for low-pay jobs nether frustration,” helium said.
Pushing for a transparent and stringent introspection system, successful presumption of past instances of irregularities, the recruitment committee made broad information arrangements and took ineligible enactment against those attempting to compromise the integrity of the examination. The Recruitment Board, connected June 8, registered cases at Hussainganj police presumption against the Telegram transmission ‘UPP Exam Paper’ and the Instagram relationship ‘UP Police Leak’ for their alleged engagement successful selling a fake question insubstantial claiming it had been leaked. In Azamgarh, a lawsuit was registered against Instagram user Ashutosh Kumar Maurya for allegedly doing the same. He was taken into custody.
Sharat Pradhan, a seasoned governmental commentator based successful Lucknow, calls the immense unreserved for the constable occupation a awesome of desperation among the youth. “It points towards a benignant of distress and humongous nonaccomplishment of the strategy successful employment generation. If a BA pass-out successful English, oregon a B. Tech grade holder is competing for constable jobs successful the constabulary force, it shows the wide strategy is not generating opportunities to utilise their skills and education,” added Pradhan.
Ajit Kumar Jha, an Oxford University-trained governmental and societal expert who has followed U.P. intimately for 4 decades, says the State needs to enactment successful spot exigency steps to make employment opportunities. “This shows a structural occupation with U.P.’s economy, arsenic a ample colonisation is unemployed oregon underemployed. Many among them are skilled youths,” helium said.
He said the situation is each the much superior because U.P. is simply a State with a debased median property owed to fertility rates (2.4 betwixt 2019-21 and 2.2 betwixt 2023-24; India’s was 2 for some periods). U.P.’s median property is 24.7 years, among the lowest successful India, arsenic per the Government of India data.
“Uttar Pradesh needs an concern and manufacturing gyration to hole the crisis. It cannot beryllium done lone by generating service-sector jobs,” Jha said.
mayank.kumar@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
