NEW DELHI: Overwhelmed Indian officials have cancelled plans to fill a handful of menial government jobs after being flooded with 75,000 applications — some from university graduates.

The Chhattisgarh state government’s directorate of economics and statistics was left stunned after the wave of applications for 30 “peon” or servant jobs whose duties include fetching tea for 14,000 rupees ($220) a month in wages. Directorate head Amitabh Panda said he has cancelled an exam planned for candidates after receiving 70,000 online applications and 5,000 in person, including from qualified engineers and management graduates.

“This is surreal,” Panda told on Tuesday, saying the entire process was being re-examined.

“We had made arrangements for 2,000 to 3,000 aspirants.”

India’s vast bureaucracies, a legacy of British colonial rule, are seen as an extremely secure place of employment compared with the private sector.

Government jobs, even the lowest ones, are highly sought after, with regular reports of candidates paying thousands of rupees in bribes to try to clinch one.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2015

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