Karnataka Govt To Start Recruitment Process For Filling 56,000 Vacant Posts Within 30 Days
The government's decision was prompted by a massive protest by government job aspirants in Dharwad two days ago.
Published : February 27, 2026 at 12:46 AM IST
Bengaluru: In a major decision, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to start the recruitment process for 56,432 vacant posts across departments within 30 days. The cabinet also decided to stick to the 50% reservation ceiling.
The decision taken at the cabinet meeting here on Thursday was prompted by a massive protest by government job aspirants in Dharwad, 400km north of Bengaluru, two days ago. There are over 2.7 lakh vacant posts in various departments and state-run corporations for many years now.
"Keeping in view the aspirations of our graduate youths, the cabinet decided to start the recruitment process for 56,432 posts in different departments. All heads of the departments have been directed to start the process within 30 days," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
The government recruitments in Karnataka have almost been stopped for over two years, as the previous BJP government's decision to increase the reservation quota for SCs and STs to 17% from 15% and 7% from 3% respectively has been challenged in the High Court of Karnataka. The petitioners contended that the hike in quota for SCs and STs is illegal as it exceeds the 50% ceiling imposed on total quota by the Supreme Court.
While allowing the petitions, the High Court stayed the state government's 2022 order giving effect to the hikes in SC/ST quotas. Since the case is yet to be decided, the government has put on hold all recruitment, including those for which notifications were issued.
Besides, the state government's decision to provide internal reservation among different SC groups within their quota of 18% has also been challenged in the court of law, giving another reason for the government not to fill vacant posts.
"Now that these matters are before the court, we will conduct recruitment as per the earlier quotas of 15% and 3% of SCs and STs, respectively. However, we will keep 2% posts for SCs and 4% of posts for STs reserved as per the new quotas, and they will be filled if the court upholds the hike," Patil said.
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