State Talathi exam candidates denied entry at Powai exam centre
The candidates had been instructed to arrive at 8 am at the Powai IT Park exam centre in Mumbai, with the Session 1 paper scheduled for 9 am. However, upon reaching the centre, they were confronted with the unsettling situation of the main entrance being shut before they could go in
Mumbai: Nearly 50 candidates who were to appear for the Maharashtra Talathi recruitment exam on Monday were barred from entering the exam centre at Powai because they were allegedly late. Upset at not being let in, a spontaneous protest broke out outside the gates, with several candidates claiming that they had arrived ahead of time. Many candidates had travelled from the rural parts of the state.
The candidates had been instructed to arrive at 8 am at the Powai IT Park exam centre in Mumbai, with the Session 1 paper scheduled for 9 am. However, upon reaching the centre, they were confronted with the unsettling situation of the main entrance being shut before they could go in. This resulted in the unfortunate denial of entry to some candidates. The exams to recruit Talathis for the revenue department began on August 17 and will continue until September 14.
Utpal Rokde, one of the protesting candidates from Umarkhed in Yavatmal district, said, “I had indicated my preference for exam centres in Yavatmal, Nanded and Aurangabad. To my surprise, I was assigned to Mumbai, a fact that I became aware of just two days ago when I received my hall ticket.”
Rokde said that he reached Mumbai early on Monday morning and hurried to the exam centre in Powai. Overcoming the challenges posed by both inaccessibility and ongoing road construction near the centre, he managed to arrive just as the gates were about to close. The scheduled start time for the exam was 9 am, and the gates were to shut at 8.45 am.
Another candidate from Ulwe in Navi Mumbai described her disappointment, saying, “As I alighted from the autorickshaw, I was disheartened to witness the gates closing.” She had opted for Mumbai as an exam centre due to the absence of a centre in Navi Mumbai.
Another candidate, who reached Mumbai from Nanded, said that several persons missed entry by a mere minute. “This is what sparked the collective anger,” he said. “Considering the considerable efforts invested in reaching the exam centre, we could have been let in. I have been preparing for the competitive examination for the last three years now. This year I lost my opportunity due to this mismanagement.”
Another candidate added: “We followed the instructions and reached the exam centre on time. But the main entrance was closed prematurely, and there was nobody around to clarify. Who can we turn to for answers?”
Anand Rayte, the state coordinator for the Talathi recruitment exam, said that candidates had been informed of the stringent timings. “In the incident today at the Mumbai exam centre, the local authorities confirmed that the gates were closed as scheduled,” he said.
Rayte also provided clarity on the allocation of exam centres, saying, “Given that this is a computer-based examination, centres are limited. Candidates were informed that if a centre was not available in their vicinity, they would be assigned a centre at a different location.”
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