BANGALORE: The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) has created a record of sorts by completing the selection of 153 Karnataka Administrative Service officials and other gazetted officers within eight months.

The record is by its standards and not those of the Union Public Service Commission.

The KPSC's main examination for recruitment to KAS and other services was held from July 23 to August 3, 2005 and 82, 293 candidates appeared for it. The list of 759 candidates who had made it to the personality test and interview level of the selection process was announced on March 6, 2006. The test and interviews were conducted from March 20 to April 15. The temporary selection list will be notified on Monday, a KPSC statement said.

The completion of the process is a matter of satisfaction for chairman of the truncated commission H.N. Krishna and other members. There are two vacancies in the seven-member commission and it will increase to four next month.

Long wait

Given its earlier track record and a penchant for courting controversies, the completion of the selection process has no doubt been speedy. In contrast, it had been an eight-year wait for 403 candidates who had made the grade in the 1998 round of examinations.

It has been only a couple of months since the selection of candidates for the posts notified in 1998 was published.

The selection process with regard to the 1998 examination was marred by controversies from the beginning.

No sooner had the preliminary examination been completed, than the High Court struck down the rural weightage scheme on writ petitions from some candidates.

When the interviews were being held, Veerappan abducted Kannada thespian Rajkumar and the process had to be halted in July 2000.

Meanwhile, the Government withdrew all the notified vacancies from the commission and later withdrew the Government Order in June 2001 allowing the KPSC to go ahead with the interview.

When the KPSC published the provisional selection list, many candidates raised a hue and cry over the abnormal marks awarded to some candidates and alleged that KPSC insiders were hand-in-glove with those candidates.

As the KPSC did not order an inquiry, they approached the KAT and the tribunal had to order revaluation of entire answer scripts.

Apart from this, the previous Government (Congress-Janata Dal-Secular) sparked off another controversy in the recruitment of tahsildars bypassing the KPSC and opting for their special recruitment.

The KPSC was accused of delaying the recruitment, which it had denied, saying there had been no requisition from the Government to fill the posts from 1984 to 1998.

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