Hyderabad: Aspirants have urged the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC) to reconsider its cutoff date policy for educational qualifications, saying it is preventing thousands of final-year degree and postgraduate students from applying for government jobs despite application windows remaining open for several weeks.
Candidates said the commission fixed the cutoff date before the online application process began in several recent recruitment notifications. As a result, students who had completed their examinations but were awaiting results or final certificates became ineligible to apply. They requested the state government and TGPSC to revise the policy and provide eligible final-year students with an opportunity to compete.
The unemployed argued that the current rule creates two major disadvantages. First, candidates whose results are declared after the cutoff date cannot submit applications even if they obtain their certificates before the application deadline. Second, they risk missing recruitment opportunities for several years because government job notifications are issued only occasionally.
TGPSC cutoff date draws comparison with UPSC policy
Candidates pointed out that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) allows final-year degree students and applicants awaiting results to apply for the Civil Services Preliminary Examination. Similarly, final-year MBBS candidates who have not completed their internship can also appear for the examination. They are required to produce the necessary educational certificates only during document verification and interviews.
Unemployed candidates questioned why TGPSC had not adopted a similar approach despite UPSC being considered the country’s model recruitment agency. Leaders of the Unemployed Joint Action Committee said adopting an application deadline-based cutoff date would benefit students without affecting the recruitment process.
They also cited recent notifications as examples. The notification for Diet Lecturer posts was issued on June 18, with the same day fixed as the cutoff date, although applications are accepted from June 24 to July 29. Likewise, the Deputy Educational Officer notification issued on June 5 fixed June 5 as the eligibility cutoff, while applications remain open from June 12 to July 19. The Assistant Executive Engineer recruitment notification in the Roads and Buildings Department also fixed June 2 as the cutoff date even though applications are being accepted from June 8 to July 15.