Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s city tour proved dear for about 45 candidates who were on their way to write the Group-II services examination at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) here on Saturday while at many other centres across the state, it was heavy rain that made it difficult for aspirants to reach the exam centres.
Though about 4.79 lakh candidates downloaded the hall-tickets, more than one lakh did not appear for the exam and the officials blamed it on the rain. 76 percent attendance has been recorded for the exam. Paper-II will be held on Sunday. In Hyderabad, the chief minister’s convoy blocked the roads for many aspirants. Kiran Reddy was scheduled to attend some official programmes in Serilingampally constituency on the outskirts of the city on Saturday. The police stopped vehicular movement enroute to make way for the chief minister’s convoy at Madhapur and several other places on the stretch for more than 20 minutes. It took another 30 minutes for the police to ensure smooth flow of traffic. About 45 candidates, who were proceeding to the JNTU centre for the Group-II paper-I exam, were stuck in traffic on Madhapur route and missed the exam as they could not reach the centre in time.
At many other places, Group-II aspirants had to wade through water-logged roads to reach exam centres as the incessant rain that has been lashing the state since Friday has submerged many areas. In Hyderabad and other cities, slow movement of traffic added to their woes.