The Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has proposed a significant change in the recruitment process for government job examinations in the state, as reported by The Economic Times.

According to the new proposal, preliminary examinations will be conducted only if the number of applications received is more than 200 times the number of vacancies notified.

This means that if a recruitment notification is issued for 100 posts, the Commission will hold a prelims exam only if the number of applications exceeds 20,000.

If the number of applicants falls below this threshold, APPSC may skip the preliminary stage altogether and proceed with a direct mains exam or a single-stage recruitment process.

What is the current system?

Currently, APPSC conducts both preliminary and mains examinations if the total number of applications received for a particular recruitment crosses 25,000, regardless of how many posts have been advertised.

However, the Commission now believes that this method is inefficient and wasteful, especially when the number of applications is not proportionate to the actual vacancies.

In its official communication, the Commission highlighted that holding prelims in such cases results in avoidable expenditure and consumes additional time and resources, both for the Commission and the candidates.

To address these concerns, APPSC has formally submitted a proposal to the state government, recommending this new filtering mechanism based on the ratio of applications to vacancies.

This move is likely to impact many upcoming job notifications in Andhra Pradesh, with several recruitment processes potentially being conducted in a single examination phase instead of two. The change aims to make the recruitment process faster, more efficient, and aligned with actual demand.