Gujarat’s premier recruiting agency GPSC has 47% staff shortage: GARC report

An analysis by the GARC shows that of the 26 departments of the government, the panchayat and home departments constitute nearly 70% of the total share of sanctioned positions and have less than 40% of positions vacant.

Eleven departments including the large ones like health, which has a 7% share of total positions, education and revenue, which have a 4% share of total positions each,  report vacancies higher than 40%.

The commission headed by Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister and former finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia, which submitted its sixth report to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday, has analysed the  four major agencies: GPSC that mainly recruits Class 1&2 gazetted cadres, Gujarat Subordinate Services Selection Board (GSSSB) that recruits Class 3 cadre, Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board (GPSSB), and Gujarat Police Recruitment Board (GPRB), which selects candidates through an examination-driven and merit-based system.

Additionally, it has suggested the setting up of a Medical Services Recruitment Board “ for specialised recruitment of healthcare professionals and specialist cadres across classes”, citing the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh as cases in point.

“Swift appointments to fill the vacant board seats are expected to enhance GPSC’s capacity to conduct interviews and thereby expedite the recruitment process”, it notes.

The GPSC dealt with over 33.74 lakh applications in the last five years, the highest being in 2021-22 — the year of Covid 19– when it was swamped with 10,01,025 applications, as per the GARC report. In these five years (since 2018-19), it has recommended more than 9,700 candidates for jobs.

The commission has recommended completing the recruitment process within a year, combining drives and examinations across similar Class 1 & Class 2 cadres. For instance, for similar or identical roles, like civil engineers, separate requisitions are issued by different departments, “which necessitates multiple recruitment processes”. The GARC report notes how Roads & Buildings Department, Narmada Department, and Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) hire civil engineers through separate processes “despite the similarity of qualifications and responsibilities required for these positions” and suggests combining the recruitment exams for these.

“Recruitment of regular employees for government agencies has sometimes created difficulties for Gujarat. One of the most significant concerns is the extended time taken to complete recruitment cycles, which might stretch beyond one year. This not only creates uncertainty for candidates but also leaves government departments understaffed which might further affect service delivery,” the report notes.

Challenges in Recruitment Process:

Exam venues

Many colleges with better infrastructure are unwilling to host exams “due to the low compensation offered in return, while some lack essential facilities such as CCTV surveillance and secure seating arrangements”, the report notes, adding that capacities for computer-based tests are “constrained”. Currently the state is able to accommodate less than 10,000 candidates in a single shift across all centers. “These limitations restrict the scale and frequency of exams that can be conducted”, the GARC report notes.

Manual scrutiny

In the absence of digital linkages with Gujarat’s SSC, HSC, and university databases, the agencies spend considerable time “sending letters, making repeated phone calls, or even conducting field visits to confirm the existence of institutions and the validity of certificates” and end up conducting their own investigation, “rather than relying on a streamlined verification mechanism”, the commission states. These also “increase the likelihood of litigation”.

Limited manpower

The GARC flags vacancies in the GPSC Board  leading to “significant delays in conducting interviews for Class 1 posts”.

Approval delays

The commission notes that government departments often face delays in getting necessary approvals to initiate the recruitment process. “Even when vacancies arise from routine retirements or resignations, requisitions move through multiple levels of clearance within the department and the Finance or GAD (General Administration Department) offices before being sent to the recruitment agency”. Critical of the reliance on “manual process to track sanctioned posts, filled positions and vacancies”, the commission suggests integrated digital systems for maintaining and tracking data and creating a 10-year recruitment calendar.

“Departments also lack a real-time digital view of their staffing, making it difficult to anticipate retirements or plan for future needs. This dependency on manual processes hampers on time requisition submission which further leads to last minute requisitions,” the GARC says.

Problems candidates face

Exam cancellations

Candidates applying for Government of Gujarat vacancies through various recruitment agencies have faced disruptions “such as last-minute exam cancellations or cancellation of already conducted exams”, causing uncertainty and making them prepare and appear for re-scheduled exams.

Low-standard questions 

Candidates have sometimes reported “ambiguous or erroneous questions in some Gujarat recruitment exams, indicating lapses in paper-setting standards”, the commission notes adding how it has “confused well-prepared candidates and have potentially affected their results”.

Digital hiccups

The commission reports candidate complaints of “slowdowns and crashes” due to heavy user traffic in the Online Job Application System (OJAS) which has resulted in “discontentment”. Similarly there have been issues faced with uploading documents or receiving timely OTP/email confirmations. “These digital hiccups might have caused candidates to miss deadlines, etc. which has hampered the candidate’s experience”.

GARC recommendations

*Digital tracking of turn around time, and SLAs

“Embed timestamp-based tracking for each key milestone in the recruitment process. Establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for every stage, assigning clear accountability to each stakeholder”, the report says. It expects the system to automatically flag delays, general alerts, and “enable periodic performance reviews” to ensure adherence to defined timelines.

Issue a government resolution equivalent mandating all recruitment-related communication be conducted exclusively through the digital system

Granting more financial and administrative autonomy on par with GPSC to the GSSSB, GPSSB and GPRB “to promote faster decision making and decentralised control”

Empower the agencies to onboard external expertise for domains like detecting document forgery and fraud, IT application and server management, exam centre audits, legal dispute handling and so on.

*Consider candidates who “narrowly missed” the selected list or waiting list for other roles like in boards, corporations or state Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)