West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced that the state government will complete one lakh government recruitments by May 8, 2027, beginning with the appointment of 11,000 young men and women to the police force ahead of Durga Puja.
Adhikari made the announcement while inaugurating the Ozen Hotel near Akankha Crossing in Kolkata’s New Town. He said the distribution of 11,000 appointment letters marked the first step towards the larger recruitment target.
“I took oath on May 9, 2026. By May 8, 2027, there will be one lakh recruitments. The distribution of 11,000 appointment letters today marks the beginning of that process,” he said, according to The Statesman.
The Chief Minister also said political considerations would not influence government recruitment. He said recruitment committees would not include political representatives and that appointment letters would be issued to qualified candidates.
“Today we have said that there will be no political people involved in recruitment, starting from the recruitment committees,” Adhikari said. “As Chief Minister, I have only wanted to hand appointment letters to my brothers and sisters who are qualified.”
The police appointments follow what Adhikari described as a deadlock over Other Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections-related issues. He said the government had resolved the matter and that the 11,000 appointments were being made on merit.
The announcement has a direct bearing on policing capacity in a state where the Chief Minister said the police-to-population ratio was among the lowest in the country. Adhikari cited a figure of 105 police personnel per one lakh people in West Bengal, compared with an all-India figure of 155 and 200 in Uttar Pradesh under the BJP government there.
He said the state had become excessively dependent on civic volunteers and that the new recruitment process would reduce that dependence. The statement places regular police recruitment at the centre of the government’s planned expansion of public employment and policing capacity.
Adhikari also promised that recruitment through the Public Service Commission, the Staff Selection Commission and other government agencies would be conducted without political interference. He said the government would not permit actions in recruitment that could force candidates to approach the courts.
“I commit to you that during the remaining four-and-a-half years, whether it is the PSC, SSC or Staff Recruitment, this government will not allow a single action in government recruitment that could force you to go to court,” he said, adding that recruitment would be based on merit.
The Chief Minister linked government employment to household incomes and the ability of families to participate in festivals. He also announced that a Rs 6,000-crore investment at Haldia Petrochemicals would be inaugurated on October 14, presenting employment and investment as part of the government’s development programme during the Puja period.
