VIJAYAWADA: Study centres and public libraries are abuzz with aspirants preparing for various competitive examinations. As the government has decided to fill hundreds of vacant posts in various government departments, aspirants from rural areas are making a beeline for cities to attend coaching classes. There are 182 Group I posts, 337 Group II, 1,670 Group III, 1604 in medical and health department, 725 lecturer, 9,257 teacher and 1,657 other posts.
Making the hay, over 50 study centres have sprung up in Vijayawada. They offer coaching classes for various competitive exams from 6 am to 11 pm. In the face of intense competition for jobs, aspirants, who do not want to let go off the once in a lifetime opportunity, are ready to burn the midnight oil and stay at coaching centres beyond 11 pm, but in view of official restrictions, they have to leave the centres.
P Vishnu Raju, owner of Supreme Study Circle in Labbipet of Vijayawada says, “We appealed to the officials to permit us to run the study centre 24/7 as we have separate halls for both boys and girls and CCTV cameras. But officials refused to give us permission. Though officials are permitting food courts and ice cream parlours to operate till 3 am, they are denying permission for study centres to operate till late night.”
Echoing the views of the coaching centres, Mounika, a job aspirant, says, “I am pursuing my PG by staying in a hostel and also preparing for Groups and Civils. I go to college in the morning and in the evening I prepare for Groups at study centre. I can’t study till late in the night at my hostel as it will cause disturbance to others. It would be good if officials extend timings at the study centres.”
Though there are several study centres in the city, which charge `1,500-`3,000 per month, there is only one government library in the city. Keeping this in view, the Krishna district administration extended the timings of Tagore Library for the next six months from 8 am to 9 pm. A good number of youngsters, who are preparing for competitive examinations, are making good use of the library.
Everyday almost 300 candidates visit the library. The library is also providing internet service at `5 per hour. The candidates can also bring their books to the open hall. The best part is everything is free and the reference section is air-conditioned. There is also a separate newspaper section.M Jhansi Rani, in-charge of Tagore Library, says, “We usually operate from 8 am to 8 pm but with the instructions from the Collector B, we extended the timings by an hour. We have over 17,000 books.”