Candidates who appeared for the Combined Civil Services I examination (Group I) conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) last year are still awaiting the results of their written test.
The notification for the Group I exams was issued on November 1, 2016 by the TNPSC for filling 85 vacancies and the preliminary exam was held on February 19, 2017. Of the 1,37,855 candidates who wrote the exam, 4,602 were shortlisted for the main examinations that were held on October 13, 14 and 15 in 2017 in Chennai.
Though an official statement from the then Controller of Examinations of TNPSC, V. Shobana, stated that the “tentative date of publication of main written examination results will be in the month of March 2018”.
A candidate who appeared for the Group I exams in October pointed to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil services exams and said, “When the UPSC can hold preliminary, mains exams and interview and publish results for thousands of posts across the country in which several lakh candidates appeared, why cannot the TNPSC publish results even after two years of the notification?”
‘Rural students affected’
Elaborating on the hardships faced by them, the candidate, on condition of anonymity, said that several students from rural areas rent houses in Chennai to prepare for competitive exams and interview. “How long can they wait for unexplained delay? Delay only makes us suspect whether any malpractice is at work.”
The 85 posts to be filled up by this Group I exams are: Deputy Collector (29), Deputy Superintendent of Police (34), Assistant Commissioner in Commercial Taxes Department (eight), District Registrar (one), District Employment Officer (five) and District Officer in Fire & Rescue Services (eight).
Despite multiple attempts, TNSPC officials were not available for a response. It may be recalled that Minister for Personnel and Administrative Reforms D. Jayakumar recently instructed officials to conduct exams and complete the process possibly within a year.
