Nearly 4,000 apply for GPSC's Junior Scale Officers exams

Team Herald 

PANJIM: The Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC) has received nearly 4,000 applications for the Junior Scale Officers (JSO) exam scheduled next month. The last date to apply for the 22 posts, advertised on January 10, was January 24. 

For the first time in many years, the Commission has advertised a whopping number of JSO posts, created based on fresh requisition from the Department of Personnel, Government of Goa. 

GPSC Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said that 3,800 applicants have applied for these posts with the CBRT tentatively scheduled in March-end. 

The Computer Based Recruitment Test (CBRT), which is of Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) will test the candidates’ knowledge in areas of history, governance, rights, environment & ecology, innovation & start-ups, current affairs, reasoning, English comprehension and geography. 

Noronha has once again advised the applicants to thoroughly prepare for the three-stage examination. “The candidates should prepare thoroughly and work hard by solving old papers and studying as per the prescribed syllabus. All details are available on the Commission’s website,” he said. 

The 22 posts consist of 15 reserved for General category, five for OBC, one for SC and one for Person with Disability (hearing impairment). These vacancies come at a time when the Commission is unable to find suitable candidates. Eleven posts originally advertised in the first quarter of 2017 have so far witnessed three attempts of recruitment despite which two posts are still vacant. 

During these two and half years, 22 fresh vacancies were created either due to promotions or retirement. With two JSO posts of the previous slot still vacant, the GPSC will at a later stage, make a fourth recruitment attempt. 

To one’s disappointment, yet again, the CBRT conducted for posts of Assistant Professors at Engineer College, agriculture officers, planning 

and technical officers; saw minimum candidates clearing the qualifying round. 

Noronha stated that in its third attempt to fill the Assistant Agriculture Officers’ post, only eight candidates have cleared the CBRT. “Commission received 158 applications for 15 posts. Only eight have cleared it,” he said adding that one candidate for the post of Assistant Professor (Commerce) and three for Assistant Professor (IT) have cleared the test. For the four posts of Drugs Inspectors, 13 candidates have made it to the interview round out of the 239 who answered CBRT. “We are not getting large number of candidates clearing the CBRT,” he said. Disappointingly, no candidate was cleared for the Planning as well as the Technical Officers’ posts.