The state college service commission will complete the process of selecting 2,000-odd assistant professors for state-aided colleges before the Puja holidays, a commission official said on Tuesday.

The commission had started the current recruitment drive in August last year. Candidates are being interviewed since January.

“The recruitment process will be completed before Durga Puja. Colleges will issue the final appointment letters after Puja,” Dipak Kar, the chairman of West Bengal College Service Commission, said.

“All selected candidates will join the colleges by the end of this year. A fresh round of recruitment drive is set to start again towards the beginning of next year.”

The commission had received 28,000 applications for the 2,000-odd posts in response to its August 2018 advertisement. It had initially planned to complete the recruitment process by October 2018. But the process got delayed as several colleges wanted more time to send their requisitions to the commission.

May 2019 was set as the revised target to complete the recruitment but the commission missed that too because of the general elections.

Bengal has 540-odd colleges, which need teachers for close to 50 subjects. There are around 14,000 sanctioned teaching posts, of which 5 to 10 per cent fall vacant every year because of retirement, transfers and resignations.

The selection of candidates for close to 45 subjects is complete, a commission official said.

This is the first time such a huge number of candidates have applied for the post of assistant professor.