For the PSC, which makes more than 15,000 to 20,000 appointments per year, it is a heavy task to conduct competitive examinations and select the candidates. There will be exams for posts with more vacancies and lakhs of candidates appearing. Two years ago, PSC took a decision to conduct exams like LDC in two stages in order to avoid the pressure created by a considerable number of people appearing for such exams. The idea of ​​conducting a main examination for those who qualify in a preliminary phase examination was implemented. However, the dangers and practical difficulties in this were pointed out by those in the know.

There would not have been any major complaints if the preliminary stage examination involving more than one district, and the selection of those eligible for the second stage main examination had been done flawlessly. However, like many reforms of PSC, this test experiment also failed. The irregularities were evident due to the fact that the same examination had to be conducted at different stages for different districts. It is good that this examination reform, which serves nothing but to drag candidates down, has been decided to be withdrawn. Exams like LDC, Last Grade etc. which are written by lakhs of candidates, are planned to be conducted in a new way. The idea is to conduct the examination on the same day for candidates from districts with more applicants and districts with fewer applicants. This will help to minimize practical difficulties like setting up examination centers.

Actually, what candidates need today more than an examination reform is faster recruitment. The PSC and the government should seriously consider what can be done for that. It takes not months but years to reach from the notification stage to the preparation of the rank list. What if the rank list is ready? From that stage, candidates have to wait for a long time to reach the appointment stage. There are rank lists which expire without appointments even for the sake of it. There is also a tendency to deliberately slow down recruitment. There are more than a few heads of departments who do not notify the vacancies on time. There are also allegations that the government itself is imposing an unannounced ban on appointments to reduce the burden on the exchequer.

Most candidates appear for the exam in lower category posts. There are even top graduates as applicants for the post where a 10th pass is the qualification. When there are hundreds of thousands of applicants, some form of regulation becomes necessary. This was the basis for PSC's decision to conduct the exam in two stages. If the reform had been implemented with due deliberation and following acceptable norms, it would have helped the candidates as well.