Hyderabad: From building the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) from scratch to making it the best in the country, TSPSC Chairman Prof Ghanta Chakrapani has revamped the process of recruitment in the State.
After completing his tenure, Prof Chakrapani is demitting the office on Thursday. During his six year-stint, he introduced several innovative methods in recruitment, which made the TSPSC a role model for other PSCs in the country. In a freewheeling interview with Yuvraj Akula, he talks about the recruitments and the challenges he faced.
How has been your journey as TSPSC Chairman?
It was a wonderful experience. I am thankful to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for giving me this opportunity. These six years have been the best in my life of 56 years. The State government gave us full freedom and there was no interference. Depending on the needs, the State government has scientifically given vacancies for recruitments. There is zero corruption in the TSPSC and employees have been honest besides working as a family.
What reforms you have initiated in the PSC?
The use of technology like computer-based recruitment tests, one-time registration, and Command Control Centre, etc. has been a huge success. We have digitised the recruitment process from the issuance of notification till the final selection result. In fact, several other PSCs in the country have adopted these from the TSPSC.
During the last six years, how many recruitments were made?
The State government permitted 39,952 vacancies to the Commission for recruitment, of which indents for 3,194 posts are still awaited from the departments. So, we have notified 36,758 posts through 108 recruitment notifications. There is no pending post with the TSPSC which is to be notified.
Of the notified posts, the recruitment process is completed to 35,724 posts and unit lists for 31,052 posts were sent to the State government. The recruitment process for 4,330 posts is under the final stage of selection and exams for 115 posts have been completed. The recruitment process for only 919 posts is pending due to court cases.
All through six years in the Commission, the selection process was done with utmost transparency and fairness. There was no scope for lobbying and controversy. From UPSC to other PSCs in various States, all PSCs face legal cases and TSPSC is no different. But we have won a majority of cases filed against recruitments, and only two legal cases are pending in the Court which will also be resolved soon. No other PSC in the country could complete the recruitment process for more than 35,000 posts in just six years.
What were the challenges you faced?
As I come from an academic background, I was happy to recruit about 21,000 teachers for schools, colleges and universities. This recruitment gave me satisfaction. On the other hand, Group-II selection was challenging and stressful due to unnecessary legal cases. However, we won the cases and in fact, our recruitment process was lauded by the Supreme Court.
Any news on Group-I and III posts?
There are some issues related to the zonal system which the State government is working on. Notifications for Group-I and III posts will be issued soon.
What next?
After taking a break for some time, I will return to academics and research activities.
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