How State Recruitment Works: PSCs, Boards and Departments

14 Oct 2026

Recruitment Process

Quick answer

State government jobs are filled by several different bodies — the State Public Service Commission, a staff selection board, a police recruitment board, or a department or district itself. This guide explains who recruits for what, using the Constitution and the states' own descriptions, and points to the detailed guide for each route.

"State government job" covers posts filled in very different ways. An officer of the state civil service is selected by the State Public Service Commission; a clerk often by a separate staff selection board; a police constable by a police recruitment board; an anganwadi worker by the district itself. Knowing which body recruits for the post you want tells you where its notice will appear, what kind of examination to expect, and which rules apply.

To see which recruitments are open to you, start from your qualification: 10th pass, 12th pass or graduate.

The State Public Service Commission

Every state has one. Article 315 of the Constitution provides that "there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each State", and Article 320 makes it "the duty of the Union and the State Public Service Commissions to conduct examinations for appointments to the services of the Union and the services of the State respectively". The Commission must also be consulted "on all matters relating to methods of recruitment to civil services and for civil posts".

In practice a State PSC recruits to the state's senior services: its civil service examination — in Haryana, for the "HCS (Ex. Br.) & other Allied Services" — and specialist posts by selection, such as the "Food Safety Officer (Group-B)" among the Haryana Public Service Commission's current advertisements. How much further down a PSC goes varies by state: the Tamil Nadu PSC runs its own "Combined Civil Services Examination – IV (Group IV Services)" for the most junior posts, while other states hand those to a separate board.

The State PSC guide covers the examinations, and UPSC vs State PSC compares the two.

Staff Selection Boards for Junior Posts

Many states have set up a second body for clerical and other junior posts. Each defines its own field:

Body	What it recruits, in its own words
Haryana Staff Selection Commission	"Initial appointment of Non-Gazetted Group -'C' posts under the State Govt."
Rajasthan Staff Selection Board	"direct recruitment in respect of posts carrying grade pay Rs 3600/- and less than Rs. 3600/-"
Bihar Staff Selection Commission	Non-gazetted Class 3 and Class 4 posts below the pay scale of ₹6,500–10,500, under Bihar Act 7 of 2002

So the line between the PSC and the board is drawn by each state — by group, by pay, or both — and it is not the same everywhere. If a state has such a board, junior posts are usually advertised there, not by the PSC.

Police and Uniformed Services Boards

Police recruitment usually has its own board. The Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board was set up "for conduting the selection process … regarding the recruitment of various non gazetted posts in UP police". The Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board recruits "for the uniformed departments like Police, Prison and Fire service", including sub-inspectors and "Gr.II Police Constables, Gr.II Jail Warders and Firemen (Common Recruitment)".

These recruitments add physical standards and tests to the written examination. See the state police constable and state police SI guides, and CAPF constable vs state police constable for how they compare with central forces.

Departments and Districts

Some posts are filled by the department or district directly, without a commission. District administrations advertise locally — Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, for example, invited applications for "honorarium based vacant posts of Anganwadi workers/assistants" through a state portal, and Banda district for "MBBS Doctors on Vacant Contractual Posts under the National Health Mission … through Walk-in Interviews".

These are often contractual, honorarium-based or local posts, with selection by merit, interview or walk-in rather than a written examination. Read such a notice for the nature of the post as carefully as for its eligibility.

Specialist Routes

Some state services have their own route, through the PSC or a separate board:

Engineering: state engineering services (AE/JE).
Medical officers: state medical officer recruitment.
Teachers: eligibility tests and recruitment, compared in CTET vs state TET.

What Changes With the Body

Where to look. A PSC, a board and a district each publish on their own site.
Who can apply. A state can tie its reservation and relaxations to domicile, so candidates from other states usually compete as general candidates — see the domicile certificate guide.
Groups and pay. States classify their own posts, and the central groups need not match; the Group A, B, C and D guide explains the central version.
The process. The stages after selection — documents, medical, verification — follow the pattern in from notification to joining, with the state's own rules.

Sources

Share on WhatsApp