The fate of over 60,000 bank job aspirants who qualified for the posts of officers and clerks hangs in balance due to uncertainty over their appointments.
“I wrote the test for probationary officer posts in public sector banks conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection last year and have been declared qualified after the interview. Since then I have been waiting for a call from banks,” M. Bhavika from Lucknow told Business Line .
While a total of 45,000 candidates were declared qualified, only 22,000 were given appointment letters by different banks in the first allotment.
“We are told to wait for the second list of allotment but there has been no formal word from IBPS,” said Rahul from Delhi, who is among the 23,000 candidates desperately waiting for call letters.
The problem is lack of any confirmation or timeline on the second selection list. “Should I keep my hopes alive till the next round of allotment? Every single minute is like a year to me,” says Anand Das, another aspirant.
The plight of the aspirants for clerical jobs is also the same. If they fail to get jobs before March 2014, the qualification would be invalidated and they will have to appear for the exam again. This is their biggest worry.
When contacted, IBPS Director A. S. Bhattacharya told Business Line that it was for the banks to notify the second round of vacancies.
“The allotment of jobs can only be done after we receive information on existing vacancies from banks as IBPS is only an agency for selection. But we hope to complete the second allotment by December this year,” he said.
The second list vacancies could be around 10 per cent of first allotment, he said. Though not a final figure, this translates to about 2,300 officers and 3,100 clerks in the order of merit.
The remaining candidates who qualified will have no option but to wait for next year’s recruitment.
The total recruitment by 20 banks for the year 2013-14 now stands at 53,000 officers and clerks.
With the second list, this may touch 60,000, Bhattacharya said.
naga.gunturi@thehindu.co.in