Prayagraj: The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission(UPPSC) is revolutionising the recruitment process for assistant professors in 171 govt colleges across the state. Ditching the traditional direct recruitment method, the UPPSC has proposed a three-stage selection process, mirroring the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) format.This new approach aims to ensure a more rigorous and merit-based selection of candidates for the esteemed position of assistant professor.Under this revised method, aspirants will have to clear a preliminary screening test, followed by a main (descriptive) examination to assess subject-specific knowledge, and finally, an interview to determine overall suitability. Previously, recruitment was largely interview-based, with a screening test conducted solely for shortlisting purposes. However, marks from the screening test were not counted in the final selection.This system invited criticism over fairness as candidates were evaluated primarily through a short interview, on average time of around 10 minutes. Concerns were raised about how subject expertise could be gauged in such a limited timeframe.To address these concerns, UPPSC initially proposed a model where 75% weightage would be given to the screening test and 25% to the interview. However, this model was not approved due to policy constraints related to Group-A posts, which includes assistant professors. As a result, the commission submitted a second proposal incorporating a three-stage process: Objective screening test, descriptive main exam, and interview.Sources informed that this revised proposal has received in-principle approval from the state govt, with official guidelines expected soon.Due to the pending govt order, UPPSC has not yet released advertisements for the current recruitment cycle, despite receiving a requisition for 562 vacant posts across 23 subjects from the Higher Education Directorate. The new system aims to enhance fairness, rigour, and transparency in the selection process and, at the same time, test in length the subjective knowledge of the candidates.Sources informed that out of the 562 vacant posts, commerce has the highest number of 65 vacancies, followed by english 47, sociology 43, chemistry and hindi 41 each. There are 37 posts in economics, 33 each in botany, zoology, mathematics and physical education, 29 in political science, 23 in history, 22 in geography, 20 in home science and 17 each in psychology and sanskrit. Physics accounts for 14 posts, education six, and Urdu, music, statistics, computer science and Persian one each.