Published Jun 26, 2026 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 26, 2026 | 8:00 AM
The TNPSC, which conducts recruitment examinations for various state government services, notified the exam on Tuesday, 23 June.
Synopsis: With only 26 vacancies announced this year, aspirants fear that reservation categories could sharply reduce open competition opportunities. Candidates say BC, MBC and general category aspirants may face severe seat limitations.
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission’s recent Group 1 examination notification has left thousands of job aspirants worried.
Many of them expressed concern over the unusually low number of vacancies announced this year for the prestigious exam, and reservation’s impact on opportunities for candidates across other communities.
The TNPSC, which conducts recruitment examinations for various state government services, notified the exam on Tuesday, 23 June.
The commission announced only 26 vacancies across five major posts. The posts included 12 Deputy Collector posts, two Assistant Commissioner posts in the Commercial Taxes Department, three Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies posts, eight District Registrar posts, and one Assistant Commissioner of Labour post.
The examination attracts lakhs of aspirants every year and is one of Tamil Nadu’s most competitive government recruitment exams.
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Many candidates vented their anger on social media, criticising the TVK government. They said the vacancies have been sharply slashed after the government assumed office.
However, former TNPSC member and Professor K Jothi Sivagnanam dismissed such allegations, saying the process followed a structured administrative mechanism and the vacancies were announced based on demands raised by government departments.
“Compared to many other states, Tamil Nadu regularly fills vacancies in government services, which is why the numbers may appear relatively lower. Departments submit their manpower requirements to the government, after which vacancies are officially communicated to TNPSC for recruitment. There is no possibility of arbitrarily reducing these numbers,” he said.
He further pointed out that the current notification was only the initial announcement and that more vacancies often opened up during the recruitment’s later stages.
“In the past, we had increased vacancies by 200 or even 300 posts after the initial notification. Until the final interview stage, the number of vacancies can change depending on fresh requests from departments,” he added.
Despite that possibility, sources familiar with the recruitment process felt the numbers were unlikely to increase significantly this year.
A source currently working in the government sector after recently clearing a Group 2 examination said the vacancy count was unlikely to cross 50 posts.
“I have spoken to certain people, and the understanding is that even if the vacancies are revised later, the final number may only go up to around 46. This would still dilute opportunities for a large number of candidates competing for these posts,” the source said.
Several aspirants said the current notification represented one of the lowest vacancy announcements in recent years.
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Job aspirants also raised concerns over reservation allocation affecting the already limited number of posts.
A Group 2 officer familiar with the recruitment process said that reservation-related categories, such as backlog and shortfall vacancies, could further reduce the number of seats available for general candidates.
At least four of the 26 vacancies might effectively be reserved, leaving lakhs of other aspirants competing for roughly 22 positions.
For instance, among the 12 Deputy Collector posts, some vacancies were under the backlog vacancy category.
Backlog vacancies generally refer to reserved category positions that remained unfilled during previous recruitment cycles. Those could include reservations for candidates with disabilities, or quota allocations for candidates who studied in the Tamil medium, among other categories.
Similarly, the post of Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies has been listed under the shortfall vacancy category.
Shortfall vacancies are generally created to ensure compliance with Tamil Nadu’s 69% reservation policy and are intended to improve representation for communities or social groups that remain underrepresented in particular government departments.
It meant certain posts might be earmarked for specific reservation categories rather than being part of open competition.
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Another aspirant felt that the fewer vacancies combined with the reservation allocation could impact candidates from communities competing under broader reservation categories.
He said the present structure might leave limited opportunities for candidates belonging to categories such as Backward Class Muslims (BCM) and Most Backward Classes (MBC).
“Given the present vacancy structure, it appears possible that candidates belonging to BCM and MBC categories may not get even a single seat in certain streams this year,” he said.
Several aspirants and sources argued that previous vacancy announcements ranging between 60 and 90 posts helped distribute opportunities across multiple reservation categories, improving the overall chances for candidates from different communities.
But with only 26 vacancies announced this year, many felt the intense competition and reservation matrix together could significantly narrow opportunities for candidates across both reserved and open categories.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
