Graduates, post graduates and even Phd holders are among the 23 lakh applicants vying for the post of peon in Uttar Pradesh government secretariat.

A record of sort was created after the UP government, which advertised for 368 posts of peon in secretariat, got 23 lakh responses.

The minimum qualification for the post of peon is that the applicant should be a class five pass out and know how to ride a bicycle.

Grabbing the opportunity, opposition parties in unison attacked the SP-led state government over its promise of providing employment to youths in the state.

Of the total 368 posts, 268 are for general category and the rest are for SC, ST and other reserved categories in the age group of 18 to 40 years.

"When we categorised the applications viz a viz a qualification, we were surprised to find that 255 doctorates have applied for the job," a senior secretariat administration official said.

He said that while more than 1.5 lakh graduates have applied for the job, the number of post graduates is 24,969, he said.

High school or equivalent pass outs comprise the maximum numbers with more than 11.21 lakh applicants as compared to class five pass outs, whose number is 53,426.

Even class 12th job seekers outnumber the minimum qualification with more than 7.5 lakh candidates. While 1,405 candidates are in others category, 2,681 are unclassified.

The officer said that initially it was decided to hold recruitment through interview.

But now, it is planned to hold written examination as well, because screening of such a large number of candidates would be an uphill task and will take time.