A group of Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) aspirants will stage a peaceful protest march in Jaipur today, May 27, demanding clarity and fairness in the recruitment process conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC).
The march, which will begin at Utkarsh Coaching Centre at 6 pm and culminate at the Riddhi Siddhi Circle, aims to draw the state government’s attention to what students claim is a "confusing, overlapping, and unfair" recruitment cycle.
Why are they protesting?
The issue dates back to July 2023, when RPSC released vacancies for various RAS posts. The preliminary exam for these vacancies was held in October 2023, with the Mains originally slated for January 2024.
However, due to the Rajasthan state legislative elections held in December, many aspirants engaged in election duty requested a postponement, citing lost preparation time. The commission agreed, rescheduling the Mains to July 2024. The result of this exam was declared only in March 2025, over eight months after the prelims.
Meanwhile, before concluding the interview process for the 2023 cycle, RPSC announced fresh vacancies in October 2024 and conducted the preliminary exam for that cycle in February 2025.
“This creates a major problem because many candidates who have already cleared the 2023 Mains, and are just waiting for their interview, are now also appearing for the 2024 Mains. If they get selected in both cycles, they will obviously accept only one post, and the other will go vacant. This could mean precious vacancies have been wasted,” one aspirant told EdexLive.
Candidates who qualified the 2023 Mains and are still awaiting their interviews are now eligible, and preparing, for the 2024 Mains scheduled next month. This, students argue, creates an unfair advantage.
“They already have a significant edge in terms of preparation,” the aspirant added.
Unlike UPSC, which follows a regular calendar, RPSC exams are unpredictable in their frequency. For many, the current cycle might be their last chance at securing a government job.
“What makes it worse is that this isn’t a continuous process like the UPSC. We have no assurance that new vacancies will be announced in the next three years,” said the aspirant.
Insufficient prep time?
Apart from the overlapping recruitment processes, candidates also point to the short gap of just three months and 20 days between the Prelims and Mains exams this year.
More importantly, aspirants claim that at least 10 of those days were lost due to the Centre’s Operation Sindoor and the resulting unrest. Power outages and emergency duties disrupted preparation for several students.
“If the government could postpone the exam due to election duty, is Operation Sindoor not equally pressing for the state?” asked one aspirant.
Now, the students are organising a protest demanding that the latest recruitment cycle be paused, at least until the previous one has been completed, to ensure fair opportunities for all candidates.
