# 16.51 lakh apply for 11,249 Karnataka government posts 2026-09-27T02:06:29+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Karnataka Examinations Authority has received 16.51 lakh applications for 11,249 vacancies across 15 state departments, meaning at least 146 candidates are competing for each post. The highest demand is in the Revenue Department, where 4.92 lakh applications were filed for 572 Village Administrative Officer posts. The Police Department received 4.54 lakh applications for 3,991 Police Constable posts. The KEA began inviting applications on June 5 and closed them on September 9. Of the total applications, 3.46 lakh were for posts reserved for the Kalyana Karnataka region, and 13.04 lakh for the rest of the state. The government had halted recruitment during the pandemic, and court orders further delayed hiring for two to three years, leading to protests in North Karnataka. Job aspirant Shyam Sundar N.S., who holds a postgraduate degree and has been preparing for five to six years, said he applied for five posts. Ramesh Kumar, a private coaching instructor in Bengaluru, attributed the surge to the long recruitment halt and to private-sector workers losing jobs to artificial intelligence. KEA Executive Director H. Prasanna said four more departments have proposed filling 9,340 posts, and notifications will be issued soon. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The 146-to-1 ratio for these 11,249 posts is not unusual for India, where government jobs offer pension and job security that the private sector rarely matches. What stands out is the sheer backlog: the state government last conducted major hiring in 2018, barring school teachers and college professors. The KEA has now become the single window for most departmental recruitment, and it says four more departments want to fill 9,340 posts. The next set of notifications will test whether the state can sustain this pace without the delays and litigation that followed previous rounds. The government's own target of 75,000 posts in two years is the figure to watch. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: H. Prasanna, Karnataka, Karnataka Examinations Authority, police constable, Village Administrative Officer Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/16-51-lakh-apply-for-11249-karnataka-government-posts/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/16-51-lakh-apply-for-11249-karnataka-government-posts/#story-in-brief