Andhra govt to scrap interviews for Public Service recruits

Government staff hired from January 2020 will not have to go through any interviews and will be hired solely based on their performance in the selection exams.
Andhra govt to scrap interviews for Public Service recruits
Andhra govt to scrap interviews for Public Service recruits
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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday has decided to remove the interview component in the recruitment process of the APPSC (Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission). Government staff hired from January 2020 will not have to go through any interviews and will be hired solely based on their performance in the selection exams. 

APPSC secretary PSR Anjaneyulu told TNIE, “From January 1, 2020, interviews for recruitment of all the government jobs will be scrapped. Candidates will be selected on the basis of written tests and merit score.” 

At a review meeting, CM Jagan also instructed officials to release a calendar on job vacancies and exams in January every year.  Officials reportedly mentioned that APPSC notifications often lead to court cases, with the CM instructing them to avoid such incidents in the future. “After the completion of department-wise reviews, all departments will notify vacant posts. With approval from the Finance department, we will publish the calendar ... On January 1 every year, we will publish the examination calendar for the entire year,’’ Anjaneyulu reportedly said. 

Jagan had earlier declared that every January would be observed as the ‘month of recruitment’ when tests would be held throughout the month to fill up vacancies in government departments. 

Jobs in departments working on essential public services will be prioritised during recruitment. Jagan also suggested working towards partnering with IITs and IIMs for conducting APPSC exams.

The decision was taken as a step towards ensuring transparency in the hiring process. In September, allegations of a question paper leak in the examination held for Village Secretariat (Gram Sachivalayam) had rocked Andhra Pradesh with opposition parties attacking the YSRCP government. It was alleged that the question papers for the exams were leaked by employees from the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) office in Vijayawada in order to help their relatives secure top ranks in the state.

The Village Secretariat governance model aims to make the functions of the secretariat more accessible at the local level. The YSRCP government had conducted the exam and released the results within a month, terming it as one of its key achievements within 100 days of coming to power. 

Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu wrote an open letter to Jagan asking him to resign over supposed question paper leaks. The TDP also alleged that each post was being sold for Rs 4 lakh. However, neither the state government nor the APPSC has issued an official response to the allegations since then.

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