Bengaluru: The State Cabinet has approved a significant decision on Friday February 18, reducing the viva voce marks in the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) final interview from 50 to 25.

According to sources, the panel of interviewers including the chairman, all nominated by the government to the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), the selection authority for the Group A and Group B probationers, were given with right to grant 50 marks. Viva voce carried 200 marks, but now it has dropped to 50.

After clearing the preliminary exam, aspirants take the main written exam of 1,250 marks and qualify for the viva voce. When it comes to assigning Assistant Commissioners and tahsildars to posts, the final ranking is determined by the average of the marks received in the mains and the viva voce. There have been charges of corruption in the past when candidates who did poorly in the mains would come up in the rankings by performing well in the viva voce.

The Cabinet has given Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai permission to select a member of the KPSC to fill the vacancy.