The TNPSC, which released the notification for the examinations on Tuesday, announced 821 vacancies. Last year, only 640 vacancies were notified.

The Group 2 and Group 2A examinations are conducted to recruit candidates for various posts, including Sub-Registrar, Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Local Fund Auditor, Revenue Inspector, Cooperative Inspector and Assistant posts in various departments.

The vacancy figures announced over the years show a sharp decline in the number of posts in the last two recruitment cycles. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the TNPSC had announced 3,000 vacancies in 2020. The number increased to 6,500 in 2022 before declining to 2,540 in 2024. It fell sharply to 640 in 2025 and has increased only marginally this year.

Aspirants said that the latest vacancy figure was particularly disappointing as more than 2,500 Group 2 and Group 2A posts were reportedly lying vacant in various government departments. K Priya, an aspirant preparing for the exams, said, “Those of us who have been preparing for government jobs for several years are deeply disappointed by the reduction in vacancies. Many aspirants have been preparing for these exams for years to secure a government job. The low number of vacancies has killed our hopes. The government should take steps to increase the number of vacancies to more than 1,000.”