97,204 applicants but only 674 qualified for mains: Kerala Administrative Service cut-off mark raised sharply

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The PSC has increased the cut-off mark for the preliminary examination for the KAS (Kerala Administrative Service) to reduce the number of candidates appearing main examination. With this, the hopes of many candidates to make it to the rank list have been dashed.

This time, 97,204 applicants wrote the preliminary examination. Only 0.69% of them, just 677, were included in the merit list. Three more candidates were eliminated in the document verification, taking the number to 674. Three candidates have been eliminated in the third stream for gazetted officers. 308 candidates in the first stream for the open category, 211 in the second stream for non-gazetted government employees and 155 in the third stream are now writing the main examination. The preliminary examination, which consisted of two papers, was held on June 14. The syllabus prepared for the preliminary and final exams by KAS is the same as that prepared for the first selection. The preliminary exam consisted of two papers of 100 marks each. However, with the increase in the cut-off mark, most of the candidates who had studied for this exam were disqualified. Not even one percent of those who appeared for the exam got a chance to appear for the main exam.

In the last KAS main examination, 2160 candidates were included in the merit list for stream one, 1048 in stream two and 773 in stream three. Not even seven hundred candidates were given a chance for the main examination this time. The PSC says that the reason for reducing the list is the drop in reported vacancies and the number of applicants this time compared to the previous notification. While 105 people were appointed from the last list, the current reported vacancies are less than 40.

The descriptive main examination to be held on October 17 and 18 has three papers. Two papers on the 17th and one on the 18th. Each paper carries a maximum of 100 marks. The examination duration is two hours. Those who pass it will be interviewed, and the rank list will be published on February 16.

Stream, Mains Examinees, Cutoff Marks

Stream 1 --308 --116.76

Stream 2 --211 --102. 25

Stream 3 --155 --82.22