Telangana to go ahead with Group I exam as aspirants continue protest

Hyderabad: The government of Telangana is going ahead with the Group-I Main examination to be conducted by the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGSPSC) even as the aspirants continued their protest for a second day demanding their postponement citing short-time for preparation and demanding revision of a Government Order (GO) that tweaked the reservation policy.

Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari on Thursday held a meeting with officials of various departments and directed them to make fool-proof arrangements for the exams scheduled from October 21 to 27.

A section of aspirants of the Group-I Main examination staged a protest at Gandhi Nagar Park in Hyderabad on Thursday demanding the rescheduling of the exam.

Police detained the protestors, who have threatened to go on hunger strike if the government fails to postpone the exam.

The aspirants began that protest in Ashok Nagar on Wednesday night demanding the postponement of the exam.

Dozens of students came out of hostel rooms and classrooms of the coaching centres to stage a protest, demanding that the government postpone the exams till the High Court decides on the petitions challenging Government Order 29. The protestors were detained by the police.

Police stepped up security in Ashok Nagar to prevent any further protests. A large number of policemen were deployed in the area.

Some aspirants met Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Thursday and sought his support for their protest.

A group of aspirants also reached Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan to meet state Congress chief Mahesh Kumar Goud.

Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary held a video conference with district Collectors, police commissioners and senior officials concerned to review the arrangements for the exams.

TGSPSC Chairman Mahender Reddy and members, Secretary E. Naveen Nicolas, Director General of Police Jitender, district collectors of Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri and other officials participated in the video conference.

The Chief Secretary said that a total of 31,383 candidates will appear in the exam to be conducted at 46 centres in Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri districts. She directed officials to make necessary security arrangements around the exam centres to prevent any irregularities or untoward incidents.

A total of 31,382 candidates have qualified for the Group-1 Mains examination out of around 3.02 lakh who appeared for the preliminary examination conducted to fill 563 posts in various departments.

Mahender Reddy said that since Group-I Mains are being held for the first time since 2011, the officials should take all precautions to ensure the smooth conduct of the exam.

Mahender Reddy said that in the current situation where social media is active, the conduct of exams is also challenging and in this context, proper precautions should be taken to avoid any misconceptions and rumours. DGP Jitender said that elaborate arrangements have been made at all the examination centres where Group 1 will be held and all measures have been taken to ensure the peaceful conduct of the examinations.

The candidates demanding the postponement of exams argue that GO 29 will rearrange the prelims list upside down. About 22 cases challenging the GO are pending in the High Court. They say that the GO tweaked the reservation policy and this would limit the chances of candidates from reserved categories.

On October 15, the Telangana High Court dismissed writ petitions, seeking orders to postpone the examination.