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The state government has banned in-person interviews for hiring workers from June 2021, calling it a “historic move” that aims to maintain “maximum transparency” and promote “full confidence” in the recruitment process for government positions.
All categories of government posts were expected to be filled exclusively through written examinations. However, he has since changed his policy, abandoning the open procedure in favor of the former, while adopting a “personality test”.
“Government, after careful consideration of the matter, hereby reinstates the personality test for higher level posts in Group-1 services for recruitment of suitable and deserving candidates for effective and efficient delivery of public services,” State Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma said in an order (on September 30), which, however, was not publicly available.
The APPSC announced on September 30 that it will fill 92 Group 1 cadre posts in the state government after an absence of more than four years, citing only the latest decision on personality tests.
Approximately 60,000 candidates appear on an average in the Group 1 preliminary examination and approximately 10,000 in the main examination. More than two million people will be in group 2 and other groups.
District Registrars, Deputy Superintendents of Police, Auditors and other posts are included in Group-1.
A senior member of the AP Public Service Commission (APPSC) only noted the reason behind the government’s policy change, saying “wiser sense prevailed”.
“The decision to forgo personal interviews is clearly based on some flawed assumption. We consulted the Union Public Service Commission and also constituted a committee of experts and recommended that a personality test be conducted at least for Group 1 posts,” the official told PTI.
Accordingly, the government came out with a new order to restore the personality test.
A “Structured Personality Test” will include character (mental and emotional) analysis of candidates.
“We cannot simply recruit candidates without assessing their qualities and attributes, which is only possible through a personal interface. The personality test will help us determine the best suitability of the candidate for the civil service,” the official said.
The APPSC constitutes three separate boards, each consisting of two IAS and IPS officers, an academician of the rank of University Vice-Chancellor, a member of the APPSC, besides the Chairman.
“We have put in place an efficient and tamper-proof system that leaves no room for manipulation,” the APPSC official said, refuting allegations that the personal interview was re-done to please certain commissioners who were “political appointees”.
APPSC secretary (in-charge) H Arun Kumar said the personal interview carries only about 10 per cent of the total marks.
“There will be a 360-degree review of the overall personality of each candidate,” he said.
On October 17, 2019, the CMO announced, “Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken a historic decision to do away with personal interviews in recruitment.”
The historic decision of the Chief Minister was finally codified in an official government order on June 26, 2021, which said that only written examinations will be conducted for all categories of posts, including Group-1 posts, in all appointments that should be notified henceforth.
Calling it a “major reform”, the government said the move to do away with the interview process was “to maintain maximum transparency and ensure full confidence of competing candidates throughout the selection process”.
As part of the reforms made in the recruitment procedure of APPSC in 2011, the united government of AP, headed by N Kiran Kumar Reddy at that time, abolished the interview process for all subordinate posts.
The reforms were implemented in accordance with the recommendations made by a high-level committee headed by the then Special Chief Secretary J. Satyanarayana.
However, written tests and interviews were reserved for executive posts like Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Commercial Tax Officer, Regional Transport Officer and the like.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy government changed this policy last year but has now backed off.
Input from PTI
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