Punjab Police Constable Recruitment 2026 — District and Armed Cadres

Punjab Police published Advertisement No. 01 of 2026 on 6 March 2026 for the post of Constable in the District Cadre and the Armed Cadre. A single online application, a single computer-based test and a single physical test cover both cadres; you rank your cadre preference in the form and are allotted a cadre on merit. This page is built from the 17-page official advertisement and the Punjab Police public notice of 16 June 2026.

Where the recruitment stands: the application window (10–30 March 2026) is closed. The public notice dated 16 June 2026 announced that the CBT would be held from 1 July 2026 onwards. As of 5 November 2026, punjabpolice.gov.in has no later notice for this recruitment; the advertisement says the answer key, Stage-II schedule and results are posted on the recruitment portal (iur.ls/punjabpolicerecruitment2026), so check there for the current stage.

Important Dates

Event	Date
Advertisement published	6 March 2026
Online application opens	10 March 2026, 7:00 PM
Online application closes	30 March 2026, 11:55 PM
Public notice on CBT	16 June 2026
Computer-Based Test	From 1 July 2026 onwards
PST / PMT schedule	To be uploaded on the recruitment portal

Vacancies

Both tables exclude sports-quota posts, which are filled separately. The women's column is out of the category total, not in addition to it.

Category	District Cadre	of which women	Armed Cadre	of which women
General / Open	1,066	304	328	95
SC Balmiki / Mazhbi Sikh, Punjab	260	104	80	32
SC Ramdasia & Others, Punjab	260	104	80	32
Backward Classes, Punjab	260	104	80	32
Ex-Serviceman (General), Punjab	182	104	56	32
ESM SC Balmiki / Mazhbi Sikh	52	0	16	0
ESM SC Ramdasia & Others	52	0	16	0
ESM Backward Classes	52	0	16	0
Wards of Police Personnel	52	18	16	8
EWS, Punjab	260	78	80	24
Wards of Freedom Fighters, Punjab	26	9	8	4
Total	2,522	825	776	259

The Punjab Government or Punjab Police may increase or decrease these numbers at any time before the recruitment is completed.

Eligibility

Nationality. A citizen of India who has not obtained citizenship, permanent residency or a green card of another country.

Age (as on 1 January 2026). Minimum 18, maximum 28 years.

• SC and Backward Class candidates who are residents of Punjab: up to 33 years.
• Serving regular employees of the Punjab Government or of another state or the Central Government: up to 33 years.
• Ex-servicemen resident in Punjab may deduct their Armed Forces service from their actual age; they qualify if the resulting age is not more than three years above the maximum.

Education. 10+2 or equivalent from a recognised board or university. For ex-servicemen the minimum is Matriculation. The qualification must be held on or before 1 January 2026.

Punjabi — mandatory. Separately from the above, every candidate must have passed Matriculation with Punjabi as a compulsory or elective subject, or an equivalent Punjabi examination specified by the Punjab Government, on or before 1 January 2026. This is the condition most candidates from outside Punjab miss.

Height (both cadres).

	Male	Female
Minimum height	5 ft 7 in (170.2 cm)	5 ft 2 in (157.5 cm)

Transgender candidates are treated at par with female candidates for the PST and PMT.

Selection Process

The advertisement sets out three stages:

1. Stage I — Computer-Based Test: Paper I (merit) and Paper II (qualifying Punjabi).
2. Stage II — Physical Screening Test (PST) and Physical Measurement Test (PMT): both qualifying only.
3. Stage III — Document scrutiny.

Final merit is decided only on normalised Paper I marks, together with the candidate's cadre preference and category-wise vacancies. The physical tests do not add marks; they only have to be cleared. Selection is then subject to a medical examination (including a substance-abuse test), character and antecedent verification, and certificate verification.

Stage I: CBT Pattern

Paper	Questions	Marks	Duration	Role
Paper I	100	100 (1 each)	2 hours	Decides merit
Paper II — Punjabi language (Matric standard)	50	50 (1 each)	1 hour	Qualifying, 50% needed

• No negative marking (Section 7.1).
• Normalisation: the CBT runs in several shifts, so scores are normalised using the mean–standard deviation method set out in Section 7.2.
• Minimum marks in Paper I (after normalisation): 35% for SC, BC, EWS and ex-servicemen; 40% for all other categories.
• Paper II: at least 50% after normalisation, otherwise the candidate is out regardless of the Paper I score.
• Answer key: uploaded after the last CBT session, with 48 hours for objections at Rs 50 per objection, refunded if the objection is upheld.

Paper I syllabus and question split

Section	Topics	Questions
General Awareness	Constitution and its features; Central and State legislature, executive, judicial institutions and local government; history, geography, culture and economy of Punjab; health and nutrition; current affairs	35
Quantitative Aptitude & Numerical Skills	Simplification, average, decimals and fractions, ratio and proportion, percentages, profit and loss, simple interest, time and work	20
Mental Ability & Logical Reasoning	Number and letter series, sequencing, statements and conclusions, pattern completion, order and ranking, direction and distances, relationship problems	20
English Language Skills	Reading comprehension, Punjabi-to-English translation, sentence rearrangement and correction, error spotting, fill in the blanks, spelling correction, vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution)	10
Punjabi Language Skills	Correct/incorrect usage (ਸ਼ੁੱਧ/ਅਸ਼ੁੱਧ), synonyms and antonyms, proverbs and idioms, English-to-Punjabi translation, one-word substitution, unseen passage	10
Digital Literacy & Awareness	Computer fundamentals, MS Office (Word, PowerPoint), internet and web search, email, basic mobile-phone concepts	5

Punjab carries real weight in this paper. Punjab history, geography, culture and economy sit inside the 35-question General Awareness block, the English section includes Punjabi-to-English translation, and there are 10 Punjabi questions in Paper I on top of the 50-question qualifying Punjabi paper.

Stage II: Physical Screening Test

Candidates who clear both papers are shortlisted on Paper I merit (after reservation) and called for Stage II, which runs in this order: running, long jump, high jump, then height measurement. Every event for your category must be qualified — failing any one disqualifies.

Candidate	Events
Male (including ex-servicemen below 35 on 1 Jan 2026)	1,600 m race in 6 min 30 s (one chance); long jump 3.80 m (3 chances); high jump 1.10 m (3 chances)
Ex-servicemen male, above 35 on 1 Jan 2026	1,400 m walk-and-run in 12 minutes (one chance); 10 full squats within 3 minutes (one chance)
Female (including ex-servicemen below 35 on 1 Jan 2026)	800 m race in 4 min 30 s (one chance); long jump 3.00 m (3 chances); high jump 0.95 m (3 chances)
Ex-servicemen female, above 35 on 1 Jan 2026	800 m run in 6 minutes (one chance)

Random dope testing may be carried out; refusing to give a sample disqualifies the candidate. Pregnant candidates may apply on the portal, before their scheduled date and with a government-hospital medical report, to postpone the PST and PMT.

The PMT is the height check: candidates at or above the minimum height in the eligibility section are declared qualified.

Application Fee

Category	Application fee	Examination fee	Total
General	Rs 550	Rs 650	Rs 1,200
Ex-servicemen of Punjab / lineal descendants of ESM	Rs 500	Rs 0	Rs 500
SC/ST of all states and Backward Classes of Punjab	Rs 550	Rs 150	Rs 700
EWS	Rs 550	Rs 150	Rs 700

Transgender candidates pay according to their reservation category. Payment is online only, and the fee is not refundable.

Pay and Posting

The advertisement gives the pay scale of a Constable as Rs 19,900, with a minimum pay of Rs 19,900 per month admissible for three years from the date of joining, under the Punjab Government notification of 29 December 2020 and the Punjab Police (First Amendment) Rules, 2025. Recruits can be posted anywhere in Punjab, India or abroad, and under Section 4(b) of the Punjab Police Act, 2007 transfer from one cadre to another is not allowed — so the cadre preference you gave in the form matters for your whole career.

For the District Cadre, candidates gave 15 district preferences; districts are allotted on merit and availability, and under Punjab Government instructions of 21 May 2020 a selected candidate is not posted in their home district.

Related Pages

• PPSC PCS 2026, the Punjab state civil services exam
• Haryana Police Constable 2026, the neighbouring state's constable recruitment
• All Punjab exams and state police recruitments

Sources: Punjab Police Advertisement No. 01 of 2026 (published 6 March 2026) and Public Notice dated 16 June 2026, both on punjabpolice.gov.in. Later stages are announced on the recruitment portal.