CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission’s (TNPSC) decision to cancel the Group II and IIA main examinations scheduled for Sunday due to mismanagement in allocation of exam centres has not only caused severe hardships but has also forced candidates back into an extended preparation phase — a painful and exhausting process for many.
S Kamaraja of Tiruvallur, said he had reached the exam centre at 8 am, with no clue of any venue change. “How can the centre be altered after hall tickets are issued? I have been preparing for the Group II and Group IV exams for the past six years,” he said.
While some aspirants prepared alongside full-time jobs, others had to juggle family responsibilities throughout the preparation period.
K Vijayan, a candidate who was allotted DG Vaishnav College said many candidates do not have a conducive environment at home to prepare and hence rely on public libraries. “Now, the anxiety of preparation will continue for a few more months. Until the exams are over, many of us cannot resume our work,” he said.
While a section of candidates, who were unable to find their enrolment numbers, took to the streets demanding cancellation of the exam, others who managed to enter the exam halls were asked to leave midway, after hours into the test.
S Vanathi of Poonamallee said, “After completing half the exam at Presidency College, we were informed that it had been cancelled. I had resigned my job to prepare for these exams, hoping to resume work after the results. Now, I will have to wait for many more months.”
In Vellore, the announcement of cancellation reached centres only by 11.30 am, forcing unsuspecting candidates to stop writing and submit their answer sheets halfway through the exam. Several candidates said they had completed nearly 65%-70% of the paper when the cancellation was announced.
At the Thiruppalai Yadava College exam centre in Madurai, where 539 candidates appeared for the exams, many alleged that the exam was postponed only during the last 10 minutes, when they were about to finish writing.
Expressing distress, Anitha (name changed), an aspirant, said there was a candidate who had come to attend the exam, just two days after her marriage. “The TNPSC administration does not permit even a one-minute delay for candidates to enter the exam hall. However, they cancelled the exam out of the blue, causing severe mental stress to the candidates.”
Visually impaired candidate Murugan (name changed) said, “After preparing for several days, the sudden postponement has left our future uncertain.”
Many of the 730 aspirants, who attended the exam at Thanthai Periyar college in Tiruchy, said they were close to completing the paper when the announcement came.
Anand Chakravarthy (name changed), who was appearing for his third Group II main exam, said, “This is not a preliminary exam with lakhs of candidates. There are only around 9,000 candidates writing mains. Why can’t there be a proper system? It is highly disappointing.” He added that unlike UPSC, TNPSC exams are not conducted annually, leaving candidates uncertain about revised schedules.
Another candidate, T Raghavan (name changed) of Tiruchy expressed concern over potential schedule clashes. “We are still awaiting the results of Group I mains, and may have to prepare for interviews. We hope the rescheduled Group II exam does not overlap with Group I timelines,” he said.
(With inputs from Nimisha S Pradeep @Vellore, Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam @Madurai, Vivanesh Parthiban @Tiruchy)