New government, same wait and agony: Telangana’s job aspirants in limbo
Despite the government’s claim of filling 70,000 posts, thousands preparing for Group exams are still waiting for fresh notifications and a clear recruitment calendar
Years of preparation, cancelled notifications and unclear recruitment timelines have left thousands of Telangana job aspirants struggling with mounting financial and mental stress. Representative image
A change of government was supposed to bring a fresh start for Telangana’s job aspirants. Instead, for thousands who spent years preparing for Group-1, Group-2, Group-3 and Group-4 examinations, the wait has only grown longer. The BRS government is gone, the Revanth Reddy government is in power, but the notifications many were hoping for remain elusive.
For aspirants who have poured years, money, and their best working years into chasing a government post, uncertainty has become a test of patience. Their question is simple: how much longer must they keep preparing for an exam that may never be announced?
Take Kiran Rathod, a 2020 Political Science post-graduate, from Osmania University. Also chairman of the Unemployed Associations' JAC, he began preparing for Group-1 posts and appeared for examinations notified during the BRS regime. However, some of those notifications were cancelled due to various reasons.
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Parikirala Naresh's distress is different. Naresh studied Computer Science engineering. After earning his engineering degree from a private college in Hyderabad nine years ago, he was determined to secure a government job, instead of private sector. What both cases have in common is the uncertainty surrounding fresh notifications under the Revanth Reddy government. Aspirants are still waiting for clarity on when new Group examinations will be announced and when the vacant posts will finally be filled.
With the hope that a government job will put their lives on track, lakhs of unemployed aspirants spend their days and nights preparing at coaching centres. Many head to the Hyderabad Central Library in Chikkadpally every day, studying newspapers and practising with question papers from previous Group examinations. Thousands of young job seekers spend hours pouring over books at the library, driven by the hope that fresh notifications will be issued, examinations will be held, and they will eventually secure government jobs.
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The library in Hyderabad has become a base for youngsters studying for government jobs. It remains open from 5 am to 11 pm. Unemployed aspirants who come to study are also provided free breakfast, lunch and dinner. According to librarian Bollam Mahender, “Around 2,500 students come here to study every day”. The sheer number of youngsters coming to a single library illustrates the scale of competition for government jobs.
Mounting despair
Like Rathod and Naresh, many young aspirants are frustrated by the lack of information from the government on fresh notifications, even as they continue to spend hours preparing for the examinations.
“We come from poor families and are having a tough time. With no notifications being issued and no jobs in sight, we are going through all kinds of hardships,” said an unemployed aspirant, Krishna Mohan, expressing his anguish. “I am preparing for notifications whose dates are unknown, with the hope that I can support my family once I get a job,” Mohan said, reflecting the distress among unemployed youngsters.
The Revanth government says it has filled 70,000 jobs, but questions remain: how many vacancies still need to be filled, when notifications will be issued, and what the recruitment timeline is. The financial and mental pressure on youngsters preparing for jobs, the burden on their families, and hopes that are slowly fading are contributing to a growing sense of despondency.
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Before the 2023 Assembly elections, then Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy had promised that if the Congress comes to power, it would fill 2 lakh government jobs every year, raising fresh hopes among government job aspirants. While in the Opposition, the Congress had also announced a separate job calendar for recruitment.
However, nothing much happened. “We don't know when a notification will be issued or when an examination will be held,” said Parikirala Naresh, expressing his frustration that this uncertainty has continued for the past three years.
Government's claim
On the other hand, the government says it has already filled thousands of government posts. In January 2026, while handing over appointment letters to 1,370 candidates selected for Group-3 posts, Revanth Reddy said the government had filled 60,000 jobs in the first year and 70,000 in two years.
For Group-1, 563 posts were notified and 562 candidates were provisionally selected. For Group-2, a notification was issued for 783 posts, and for Group-4, 8,180 posts were notified, and more than 9.51 lakh applications were received. Eventually, a provisional selection list was released with 8,084 candidates.
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“This figure shows the level of competition among youngsters for government jobs. When more than 9.5 lakh applications are received for 8,000 posts, it is easy to understand how many young people are dreaming of each post, ” Venkata Krishna from Mahbubnagar explained, adding that as Chief Minister, Revanth had only issued appointment orders for notifications released by the previous BRS government and had not issued new notifications.
The problem faced by unemployed youngsters is not merely the delay in issuing job notifications; the deeper concern is that the prolonged wait could make them ineligible as they cross the upper age limit for government jobs. "They study for one examination and then have to start preparing all over again for another notification. In this process, precious years of their lives are being spent waiting for a single job,” said Ravi Naik, another unemployed aspirant.
“The Congress party has cheated us; the assurance given by Rahul Gandhi has been rendered meaningless,” he said angrily. Ravi Naik accused Revanth Reddy of deceiving unemployed youngsters after coming to power, saying, “We trusted the Congress and went from village to village campaigning against KCR, but after coming to power, it betrayed the unemployed.”
“We are travelling without a direction, preparing for notifications whose dates we don't know,” said Kiran Rathod, expressing his distress. “There are no private jobs either. We are unable to get married. We are under pressure and slipping into depression.”
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The distressed voices reflect more than the stress of preparing for an examination. For years, families have had to bear the costs of coaching, books and rent, with no clarity on when these aspirants will secure a government job. Unemployed youngsters say they are forced to reassure their parents every month that “a government job will come soon”, even though they themselves have no certainty.
Official numbers
Official statistics on unemployment are also a cause for concern.
According to the Union government's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data, Telangana's unemployment rate among those aged 15–29 stood at 18.1 per cent in 2025–26. In urban areas, it was 20.9 per cent, while the urban unemployment rate among young women stood at 30.7 per cent. These figures indicate that young people competing for jobs, particularly young women in urban areas, are facing severe challenges.
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However, it is important to remember that this is not an unemployment rate specific to government jobs, but an official unemployment figure covering the overall young labour force.
Unanswered questions
