4 yrs on, 15,00,000 candidates in state await exams

Shoulder: Govt yet to fill 36,389 job vacancies

Mumbai: Last month, the state government promised employment to 75,000 youth, in an effort to tackle unemployment. However, between 2018 and 2021, it had advertised to fill up over 36,389 positions for which over 15,00,000 candidates are still awaiting dates for exams and interview processes.

Tukaram Natkar was 22 years old when he started preparing for competitive exams. At 29 today, he is one of the many hopefuls waiting to bag a government job. Son of a farmer from Moregaon, Parbhani, Natkar has, since 2017, spent nearly ₹ 4 lakh in coaching classes to prep for the competitive exams. “We mortgaged our land to take a loan. From then on, I have been preparing for various exams to get a government job. But there’s not been a single exam since 2018, which is disappointing,” said Natkar.

Natkar now works at a mall in Pune to repay the loan and reclaim his farmland; and it does not help that last year MPSC changed the exam’s pattern, thereby nullifying the efforts of students such as Natkar who have been studying on the old pattern.

“We now need to prepare for the 2023 exam, aligning with the new format for which I need to invest another one lakh. The new pattern is also tougher than the last,” he said.

Another aspirant, Pravin Mundhe, has been applying for government jobs since 2015. The 30-year-old, who lives with his family on their three-acre farmland in Kurala village, Washim district (Malegaon), has spent close to ₹6 lakh, which he had loaned. Despite holding a bachelor’s degree in computer applications, he wishes to work with the government to repay the debt and fund his sister’s wedding. After he lost the position of a peon by two marks in 2015, he began preparing for additional departmental tests and also completed his master’s.

Mundhe’s quest for a government job is driven by social conditioning. As he said, “My parents work as labourers on other people’s farms. Parents of daughters either seek out government employees for matrimonial matches for their daughters or look for families that own at least five acres of mortgage-free land.”

According to the Spardha Pariksha Samanvay Samiti (SPSS), a nodal student body that is a bridge between aspirants and government, most candidates spend between ₹ 80,000 and ₹1,50,000 every year in tutorials to prepare for competitive tests. They borrow from friends and relatives or mortgage properties.

“Most students are dissatisfied with government’s policies on recruitment,” said Suresh Savale, 32, a candidate who seeks a position in teaching. He has been preparing for competitive exams since 2014. With a bachelor’s degree in art and education, Savale who cleared Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014, is still on the bench following the TET scam involving bogus candidates and marksheets, apart from a blacklisted company that was allowed to hold the exams.

Since 2018, the exam and recruitment processes have been plagued by these issues. Last week, the state government cancelled a 2019 advertisement for 18 different categories under Zilla Parishads (ZP). The department received 12,50,000 applications against 13,251 vacancies – again, the company selected to conduct the examination was blacklisted the previous year.

Similar malaise plagues various government departments, adding to the woes of candidates. (See accompanying box)

SPSS secretary and candidate for a ZP position, Nilesh Gaikwad said, “The government has defrauded the public by accepting around 12,50,000 applications for the positions; each applicant paid an average of ₹ 1000 - ₹ 1500.”

Rahul Kavthekar, SPSS president, agreed with Gaikwad, while applauding the state government’s announcement last week of appointing the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection and Tata Consultancy Services to conduct competitive exams. He however said, “In 2023, the government should empower the MPSC and ask the body to conduct tests on their own platform. Companies change as governments change. It impacts our careers.”