PRAYAGRAJ, May 18 -- Recruitment processes for the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission's (UPPSC) Combined State/Upper Subordinate Services Examination (PCS), Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) and several other examinations have been delayed due to amendments in recruitment rules linked to the implementation of benefits under the CM Fellowship Scheme. In a key decision taken during the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath on January 29, the state government approved age relaxation and additional weightage in government recruitments for candidates with experience under the CM Fellowship Scheme. A gazette notification regarding the amendments was subsequently issued later that month. However, ambiguities surrounding certain provisions of the revised rules have stalled the release of recruitment advertisements, officials admitted. According to officials, while the amended rules provide for age relaxation and additional weightage in the main examination, confusion has arisen because several UPPSC recruitments do not have a main examination stage. Clarifications have also been sought regarding the format of experience certificates and whether candidates from outside Uttar Pradesh would be eligible for the benefits. The delay has pushed the PCS-2026 notification nearly three months behind schedule. Traditionally, the advertisement is issued in January or February each year, but even after more than four-and-a-half months, lakhs of aspirants are still awaiting the commencement of the recruitment process. Similarly, the RO/ARO recruitment advertisement is also pending despite the commission having already received requisitions for the posts. The UPPSC has received requisitions for 92 RO posts and 267 ARO posts from the Uttar Pradesh Secretariat, taking the total number of vacancies to 359. In addition, requisitions for 69 more RO/ARO posts have been received from the Board of Revenue. Officials said the commission has intensified preparations for multiple recruitments and advertisements are expected to start being issued soon. Girijesh Kumar Tyagi, UPPSC secretary, said recruitment advertisements are expected to begin to be issued by May end. Notably, the previous RO/ARO recruitment advertisement issued in 2023 for 419 posts had witnessed an unprecedented response, with 10,76,004 candidates applying - the highest number of applications received for any recruitment in the commission's history....