The results of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam conducted in December 2010 have been delayed till the end of May.

Sources said that the delay has been caused as one post in the state excise department and three in the revenue department were reserved for sports quota, forcing the MPSC to remove the said posts from the preference list.

The excise department sent a letter about the post to the MPSC only in April, while the revenue department sent a letter in May. The commission had already interviewed candidates in March and was in the process of compiling results.

In the last two years, the commission had declared exam results in the first half of May. But it's now struggling to announce the result by the end of this month. This year, the MPSC preliminary examination is scheduled in June. The 872 candidates who appeared for interviews in March do not know whether they should continue their preparations for the June attempt.

As many as 4,500 candidates appeared for the December 2010 exam, of which 872 were selected for the interview in March.

The MPSC controls most of the recruitment in the state administration. The commission had conducted the preliminary examination in December 2010, followed by the main written examination in July 2011. This exam was conducted for 290 vacancies for nine different posts in various state departments, such as excise, revenue, sales tax and state police.

Speaking to TOI on telephone, MPSC secretary Rajendra Mangrulkar said, "The December 2010 exam was conducted for nine different posts. Of these, the choice for a post in the excise department will not be considered, as per a letter issued by the department. The excise department sent the letter in April, while the state revenue department sent the letter in May. We also faced shortage of examiners and evaluators while completing the result procedure. We will now try to declare the result by the end of this month."

The government, meanwhile, decided to reserve the four posts for sports quota - one of superintendent in the excise department, and three of 'nayab tehsildar' in the revenue department. As per the MPSC exam advertisement in December 2010, there were 126 vacancies for the post of 'nayab tehsildar'. The number has now been reduced to 123.

An official from the commission, requesting anonymity, said, "The MPSC was known for taking more than a year's time to declare exam results. Over the last two years, computerisation of the commission's facilities reduced the time taken to compile results. This year, too, the result was expected to be announced by the first week of May. The next preliminary exam is scheduled in June this year, and we wanted to finish the results before that. But these two letters put a spanner in the process. The allocation of seats and candidates is a very complicated procedure because of reservations based on caste, gender and physically disabilities."

One candidate, on the condition of anonymity, said, "The MPSC should start functioning like the UPSC, which had 1,000 vacancies and has already declared their results. The MPSC, with 286 vacancies, is struggling to compile the results. The protracted process of admission is frustrating because, like me, there are several others who are waiting for the results to make career choices."

Vaishali Patil, director of a city-based coaching institute, said, "The state government's general administration department decides the number of seats for recruitment and passes the information to the MPSC. The commission then issues the advertisement listing the vacancies. There have been times when the number of seats required to fill have increased. On a few occasions, the number has reduced, but it usually happens before the interview stage."

Regarding students suffering due to the long-drawn process, Patil said that the recruitment process has become streamlined in the last three years. "Between 2000 and 2008, recruitment for one post used to take up to three years. It's a much better system now. If the students crack the preliminary exam, they prefer to wait till the interviews as a post in administration is much in demand," she added.