Ahmedabad: The main opposition party, Congress, has demanded the recruitment of Assistant Professors in government arts, commerce, and science colleges, along with a reduction in the current 50% weightage of the interview to a more reasonable 10 to 13.50%.

Addressing the media, Dr. Manish Doshi, Media Convener and Spokesperson of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, stated that due to the Gujarat Public Service Commission’s (GPSC) policy of assigning 50% weightage to the interview, thousands of young candidates, especially women, are being treated unfairly. Even the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) gives only 10 to 13.58% weightage to interviews. The policy has created a sense of injustice among aspirants. In Uttar Pradesh, the interview weightage is 13.04%, Madhya Pradesh 11.11%, Rajasthan 10.71%, Haryana 12.05%, and Chhattisgarh 9.09%. However, in Gujarat, it remains disproportionately high at 50%. Dr. Doshi called this method unconstitutional and emphasized the urgent need for reform, particularly in GPSC’s recruitment process for Assistant Professors.

In the GPSC recruitment process for Assistant Professors, the preliminary written examination is of 300 marks, and those who qualify are invited for an interview worth 100 marks. However, in the final merit calculation, the written exam marks are divided by 6 and scaled to 50, while interview marks are divided by 2 and also scaled to 50, giving equal weightage to both components.

Congress claimed that as per this formula, the preliminary written examination, which tests academic knowledge, is significantly undervalued. As a result, candidates who perform well in the written exam may be excluded from final selection due to lower interview scores. Referring to the Supreme Court’s verdict on Ashok Kumar Yadav & Ors. vs. State of Haryana & Ors. dated 10th May 1985, Dr. Doshi said the court had recommended that interviews should not carry more than 12.2% weightage in public service exams.

Doshi further stated that GPSC conducts recruitment exams for Class-II Assistant Professors in government arts, commerce, and science colleges. The last advertisement for this post was issued in 2020 for 186 positions. Since then, no recruitment has been announced over the past five years. According to the recent 10-year recruitment calendar published by the Education Department, there are currently 1,786 sanctioned posts of Assistant Professors, of which 424 (23.74%) remain vacant. Many highly qualified candidates with Master’s degrees, NET/GSET/Ph.D. credentials have been preparing and waiting for this recruitment for the past five years.

The Congress party demands the immediate resumption of the recruitment process and the rectification of the unfair 50 percent interview weightage policy to ensure deserving candidates are appointed—especially to provide quality education in remote areas of Gujarat, said an official press statement. DeshGujarat