Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Police Headquarters (PHQ) has sent a proposal to the state government to recruit 7,500 police constables for the 2026 batch. At present, 22,500 constable posts are vacant in the state.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav instructed the police department in August 2025 to fill vacant posts before Simhastha-2028.
To address the shortfall of 22,500 posts, the department will have to either increase the number of recruitment batches in a year or raise the number of posts in each batch.
After recruitment, a constable undergoes around nine months of training before receiving a posting. With Simhastha-2028 scheduled to begin in April 2028, the PHQ must complete the recruitment process before August 2027 and conclude training before April 2028.
The retirement
Around 4,000 police personnel retire every year. Filling the gap between retiring personnel and new recruitment remains a major challenge for the department. Police training schools in the state currently have the capacity to accommodate around 8,000 recruits.
Recruitment-2025
The Police Recruitment Exam-2025 is at the final stage. The written examination and physical tests have concluded, and the final result is awaited.
Police Recruitment Board
The PHQ is awaiting approval to set up a Police Recruitment Board as announced by the Chief Minister, which would enable the department to conduct the examination independently. However, the file is currently pending between the PHQ and the Home Department.
PHQ officials said that if the board had been constituted, the department could have conducted the examination as per its schedule and ahead of Simhastha. At present, the Employees Selection Board conducts the written examination, while the police department conducts the Physical Proficiency Test (PPT).
The proposal has been sent to the home department for approval. It has not yet been decided who will conduct the examination. As the board has not yet been constituted, the Employees Selection Board may conduct the Police Constable Recruitment Exam-2026.
Virendra Singh, DIG (Selection and Recruitment)
