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Some of the Group-I job aspirants requested the mains exam to be postponed as there are issues with G.O.29, short-time for preparation and over 14 cases are pending in High Court. The image is of a protest held by students in Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad in October 2023.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement
Hours after another protest by aspirants of Group-I mains exam, to be conducted by the Telangana Public Service Commission, an air of uncertainty continues among the job aspirants. On Wednesday (October 16,2024) evening, dozens of students stepped out of the hostel rooms and classrooms of coaching centres in the Ashok Nagar area of Hyderabad demanding postponement of the Group-I exam citing short-time for preparation and misgivings over GO-29 issued in February 2024, that tweaked the reservation policy for hiring officers.
“How can they conduct the exam in a hurry. What’s the hurry? The government can wait till the legal cases are settled. What will happen if there’s an adverse judgment after the hiring process?” asks Shravan, a B. Tech student, preparing for the exam and drawing attention to the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) case. In March 2024, the AP High Court directed the APPSC to conduct a fresh Group 1 exam even after the recruitment agency issued appointment letters and 167 officers started working.
“Aspirants want the exam to be postponed because there has been a lot of uncertainty affecting preparation. My 10-hour preparation time dropped to 3-4 hours. The aspirants live in a community. If there is a talk about postponement, everyone is affected. A lot of information has been shared on YouTube. This led us to believe that the exams will not be conducted now,” said Vineet who has been preparing for the past five years for the exam.
The Ashok Nagar area is a hub for coaching centres and hostels where aspirants from districts and even residents of the city stay cooped up in rooms and prepare for the exam. The aspirants live and breathe exams and any titbit of information about the exam is amplified including whether they should rely on Telugu Akademi books.
“If the exam is conducted now, the advantage will be for the UPSC aspirants whose preparation has not been disturbed and another 20% of the student community who did not get distracted,” says another job aspirant.
Reasons to request rescheduling
“We are not here for postponement. There is a serious issue with G.O.29 which will rearrange the prelims list upside down. Over 14 cases are pending in High Court. Aspirants are not ready to re-write mains exam. We are requesting for rescheduling because of court cases. We already wrote the prelims three times,” one of the aspirants shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“About 22 cases are pending against Group-1 in Telangana High Court, @TGPSCOfficial is going ahead with the Main Exam. Above all, both government and commission are silent on GO 29 which will have far reaching implications. Like in MP, the courts may ask you to conduct exam again for all those who lost the opportunity to write mains. Restore GO 55 and the problem is solved once forever,” shared Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and former bureaucrat R. S. Praveen Kumar listing 22 cases about the conduct of the Group 1 exam.
Difference between GO 55 and GO 29
The GO 55 issued in April 2022, referred to by Mr. Kumar, has the specific clause: “The number of candidates to be admitted to the written (Main) examination (conventional type) would be fifty (50) times to the total number of vacancies available in each Multi-zone duly following the rule of reservation for community, gender, EWS, PH and Sports as laid down in General Rules 22 and 22A of TS State and Subordinate Service Rules.”
In contrast, the GO 29 issued in February 2024, has this clause: “The number of candidates to be admitted to the written (Main) examination (Conventional Type) would be fifty (50) times to the total number of vacancies available in each Multi-Zone. Provided that, in case of any shortfall in respect of candidates in reserved categories as laid down in rules 22 & 22 A of the Telangana State and Subordinate Service Rules, 1996, action shall be taken to include such number of candidates from the merit list beyond 1:50 ratio, as required to meet the shortfall in the respective categories.”
This change has become the bone of contention with the aspirants challenging it saying it will limit the chances of candidates from the reserved category.
With days to go before the Main exam, it remains to be seen whether the government will blink or the exams will go ahead as per schedule.
Published – October 17, 2024 05:14 pm IST
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