PS Group B LDCE Vacancies 2017-18 to 2023 and the Exam's Delays

Final vacancies by year

Source: the vacancy table on page 2 of the result letter of 06.08.2026 (official), read from the page image. PwBD vacancies are horizontal: they sit inside the UR, SC and ST figures, not on top of them. The 2 UR vacancies of 2023 were carried forward because no eligible PwBD candidate was available (1 VH and 1 Others), according to the same table.

Our own arithmetic on the table: the seven year totals are 25, 30, 32, 38, 42, 37 and 80, adding to 284. The clerical line is 67 of 284, or 23.6%, and the IP line 76.4%, close to the 76% and 24% split of the 19% and 6% quotas but not exactly it. The tentative figures printed in the 2023 notification for 2021 (IP 32, clerical 10) and 2022 (IP 28, clerical 9) match the final table; 2023 was then "to be intimated".

Every cycle since 2016

Four points where the record needs reading carefully

1. Cancelled, put on hold, quashed, restored and resulted

The notification of 21.11.2023 says the earlier notification for vacancy years 2021 to 2023 was cancelled ab initio by a letter of the same date, and re-notifies the same years for an exam on 30.06.2024, with applications from 04.12.2023 to 05.01.2024. A DoP order of 12.01.2024, known to us only from a reproduction, then kept "the process of above LDCE" in abeyance, after the Jaipur bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (OA 639/2023, order of 30.11.2023) observed that DPCs had not been held for six years and directed that the issue be resolved before proceeding. The sequence then closed in the Tribunal. The result letter of 26.12.2025 (official) records that the Ernakulam bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, in OA 604/2023 (orders of 27.09.2024 and 12.11.2025), quashed both letters of 21.11.2023, and that DoP letter A-34013/02/2023-DE(ii) of 11.12.2025 restored the notification of 02.01.2023. The result of the 04.06.2023 exam was declared strictly under that notification, and the recast of 06.08.2026 draws its 2021 to 2023 lists from the same sitting. What was a conflict is now settled: the 2023 exam stood; the re-notified 2024 exam never ran. One point is still open: a reviewer told us DoP extended the 2023-24 closing date to 15.01.2024 by a letter of 04.01.2024. The abeyance order cites a letter of that date, but we did not see its text.

2. The exam date of 2020

The 2020 notification, as reproduced, scheduled the exam for 08.11.2020. The DoP letters of 2026 record it as held on 29.11.2020. We print 29.11.2020 as the date it was held. A reviewer told us that the notification of 28.09.2020 was cancelled on 13.10.2020 and the exam re-notified on 20.10.2020; we have not seen either letter, so we report that sequence as unverified.

3. The crucial date

Service is counted to the start of each vacancy year, not the end. The 2020 notification used 01.04.2018 for vacancy year 2018 and 01.01.2019 and 01.01.2020 for the next two, with no crucial date for 2017-18, which had no vacancy then (reported). The notification of 02.01.2023 used 01.01.2021, 01.01.2022 and 01.01.2023. Some pages say 31 December; we found no notification that uses it. The eligibility guide works through what this means for someone who joined mid-year.

4. An LDCE that the draft rules would abolish

The August 2026 recast

Two letters in the summer of 2026 reopened the old lists. On 02.07.2026 the Department published tentative PwBD lists, extending PwBD reservation in the LDCE to vacancy year 2016-17 onwards in compliance with a DoPT office memorandum of 28.12.2023, and assessed on the sittings of 18.12.2016, 29.11.2020 and 04.06.2023; objections were due by 08.07.2026 at 5:30 pm and Circles were to authenticate by 10.07.2026. On 06.08.2026 it issued the revised and recast results, implementing an order of the Ernakulam bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal of 28.11.2025 in OA 194/2023 and the DoPT instructions on PwBD reservation.

Before the recast, DoP's letter of 03.07.2026 (official) had already decided, in compliance with the same Ernakulam order, to fill 25 shortfall vacancies of the LDCE quota for 2017-18, changing that year's position "from NIL to 25", to be assessed on the sitting of 29.11.2020.

The recast did three things worth knowing. It incorporated those 25 shortfall vacancies for 2017-18 (19 IP line and 6 clerical line), a year the 2020 notification had listed as having none, and cascaded the extra selections into the later years' lists, which were redrawn. It carried the two VH vacancies of 2016-17 forward to 2017-18, because the one VH candidate available did not qualify in Paper-I even under the relaxed standard. And it put every promotion made from the lists under the pending Supreme Court case on reservation in promotion. The Ernakulam order itself is not reproduced in either letter, and we have not read it. A reviewer summarised it as adjusting excess seniority promotions against the 75% quota of later years and filling the 25% LDCE quota in the 19 to 6 ratio; we report that as unverified.

10 September 2026: the promotion orders on the recast

The recast became promotions through DoP (SPG-II) Office Order No. R-09/15/2026-SPG-II-DoP dated 10.09.2026 (official). It has three lists. List A revises the vacancy year of officers already promoted to PS Group B, for example from 2018 or 2019 to 2017-18; by our count of its rows that is 80 officers (50 in the Inspector line and 30 in the General line). List B confirms that the vacancy year is unchanged for about 160 more (our count, 162 rows as read). List C promotes officers to PS Group B (Level 9) afresh from the date they take charge, and allots them circles: 26 rows, of which 20 are new promotions and 6 are officers already promoted through the DPCs of 2023 or 2024, one of them since retired (our count). We print no names or roll numbers.

The conditions in para 2 matter more than the lists. Citing the Supreme Court's judgment in K. Meghachandra Singh, the order says seniority counts only from the date an officer actually takes charge in the cadre; that there is no retrospective seniority, notional promotion or back-dated financial benefit; and that moving an officer's vacancy year carries no notional pay fixation, stepping up or arrears. So a revised vacancy year changes the year your promotion is counted against, not your seniority or your pay.

What is not published

When is the next PS Group B LDCE?

Not announced. The exam for vacancy years 2024 to 2026 was scheduled for 09.08.2026 in the 2026 calendar and deferred on 23.06.2026, with a revised schedule to follow in due course.

How many vacancies are there for 2024 to 2026?

Not published. The notification that would have carried them was deferred.

How many PS Group B LDCE vacancies were there in 2023?

Eighty: 62 in the IP line and 18 in the clerical line, according to the recast results of 06.08.2026.

Was the 2023 PS Group B exam cancelled?

It was cancelled on 21.11.2023 and then restored. A notice of that date cancelled the notification of 02.01.2023 ab initio and re-notified the same vacancy years for 30.06.2024; that exam was kept in abeyance and never held. The Ernakulam bench of the Tribunal quashed both letters of 21.11.2023, DoP restored the 02.01.2023 notification on 11.12.2025, and the result of the 04.06.2023 exam was declared on 26.12.2025 (official).

What are the 25 shortfall vacancies of 2026?

They are vacancy year 2017-18 only: 19 IP line and 6 clerical line. DoP's letter of 03.07.2026 changed that year from NIL to 25 to comply with the Ernakulam order of 28.11.2025, and the recast of 06.08.2026 filled them from the 29.11.2020 sitting.

Did the 2026 recast lead to new promotions?

Yes. DoP Office Order R-09/15/2026-SPG-II-DoP of 10.09.2026 promotes 20 officers to PS Group B afresh from the date they take charge (our count), revises the vacancy year of 80 officers already promoted, and gives no retrospective seniority, notional promotion or arrears.

How long does the PS Group B result take?

About 16 months after the 2016 sitting, 18 after the 2020 sitting and 31 after the 2023 sitting, by our count from the official dates.

Why was the 2026 exam deferred?

The letter of 23.06.2026 gives "administrative reasons" and nothing more.

How many vacancy years does one sitting cover?

Several. The 2016 sitting covered 2012-13 to 2016-17, the 2020 sitting 2017-18 to 2020, and the 2023 sitting 2021 to 2023. The pending cycle covers 2024 to 2026.