VISAKHAPATNAM: Around 150 candidates missed the panchayat secretary recruitment test conducted by the APPSC on Sunday at Thimmapuram centre in S Rayavaram mandal of Visakhapatnam district following a goof-up in the address of the exam venue. Surprisingly, apart from the candidates, the police deployed for the purpose, too, had no clue about the address of the exam venue. Along with the candidates, they made frantic search for the centre.
According to the candidates, the address of the centre was not mentioned in the hall tickets, forcing them to run hither and thither from 7 am onwards. Angry over the alleged carelessness of officials, they staged a dharma at District Collector K Bhaskar’s residence. “Sri Adarsha Junior College, Thimmapuram, was mentioned as the examination centre in the hall ticket, but on searching for it they found no mandal or village by that name,” a candidate said.
After downloading the hall tickets four days ago, the candidates searched for the area on Google and found it was situated near Bheemili Beach road. “We checked the college address on Google and found it was near Bheemili beach. But to our surprise, we found that the centre was at Thimmapuram village in S Rayavaram. Apart from the college address and PIN code, there was nothing — no village or mandal name. The incomplete details misled us and we missed the crucial exam.
Also, we found there was a change in the address mentioned along with the mandal in the hall tickets downloaded a day before the exam. Officials should have informed us about the change,” said K Jeevan, a candidate from Araku.
The examination centre was allotted to many candidates from places such as Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. They tried to contact the authorities concerned on toll-free number for help, but to no avail. They staged a dharna at the District Collector’s residence and submitted a representation to APPSC officials seeking re-exam for those who missed the exam.
Officials put blame on candidates, say they should have checked centre
“Though they did not promise anything, the official noted down the names of the candidates, who missed the examination and said that they would us get back to us,” Jeevan said. Speaking to TNIE, District Revenue Officer (DRO) R Gunnayya said: “There was indeed confusion about the centre as there are two places of the same name.” The candidates should have checked the address along with the PIN code, he said adding their representation is with the APPSC officials.
Meanwhile, AK Maurya, APPSC Secretary, speaking to TNIE, ruled out holding re-exam. He said, “It’s clearly the fault of the candidates. They got confused about the examination centre and the place. They could have made a prior visit to the venue and got a confirmation.’’
He said that after coming to know about the situation, they gave a chance for the candidates to reach the examination centre before 12.30 pm, so that we could have given extra time to those candidates. “We clearly mentioned in the hall-tickets that the candidates should reach the venue of exam before 12.30 pm as the question paper would not have been brought out. “We can’t help in this situation any more,’’ he made it clear.
Chaos at Markapuram exam centre
Ongole: Mild tension prevailed at a centre in Markapuram where the test for recruitment of panchayat secretaries was held. The college was too small to accommodate nearly 800 candidates who turned up for the test. Vijaya Sai Vocational College at Bestavaripet was allocated as one of the centres. Though it is supposed to be functioning from Bestavaripet as per official records, it is actually located in Trinity Vocational College in Markapuram, some 25 km away. The candidates rushed from Bestavaripet to Trinity college at Markapuram. But, there were not enough chairs. Officials allowed them to take the test at another college.