Group-I Mains amidst tight security.

HYDERABAD/WARANGAL: Group-I Main examination was held amidst tight security here on Sunday as an undeclared curfew prevailed in various parts of the Telangana region owing to the ongoing Sakala Janula Samme.

In Warangal, the hotbed of T agitation, all roads wore a deserted look right from morning till afternoon. The government conducted the examination despite KU JAC students attempting to obstruct the exam at Hanamkonda. Even as superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar and collector Bojja Rahul looked on, 15 student activists tried to enter Markazi High School but they were prevented by RAF and police personnel, who took them into custody. Police spread out the barbed wire on the Warangal-Kazipet main road to prevent the protesters reaching the exam venue.

However, ‘T’ strike had shattered the dreams of several Group-1 aspirants as they could not reach the test venues on time. While the exam began at 10 am, several candidates turned up late as the state transport buses were off the roads. In Hyderabad, late comers were seen arguing with police personnel and the APPSC officials at different centres till about 11.30 am to allow them inside.

The candidates said the APPSC officials should conduct a separate examination for them as they missed the test due to no fault of theirs. Some of the candidates even threatened to approach the court against the APPSC authorities for being “insensitive” to their transport problems. “I had taken coaching from three training institutes during the past one year and was ready to write the exam. But because of the strike, I could not make it to the test venue,” said a candidate who had to travel from the Old City to a centre in Nampally.

Though the Osmania University Joint Action Committee (OU-JAC) threatened to disrupt the examination, officials said that no untoward incident had happened in any of the centres in city. “We were well guarded and no case of disruption of examination was reported,” said Poonam Malakondaiah, secretary, AP Public Service Commission.

The Telangana region, however recorded a low attendance than coastal Andhra and Ralayaseema regions on Sunday. The attendance in the ‘T’ region__Hyderabad and Warangal 69.45% and 66.96% respectively, was less than the turn out at centres in Seemandhra including Tirupati and Warangal which recorded an attendance of 71% each. However, Vizag recorded an attendance 68.33%. A total number of 8,464 candidates had collected hall tickets for the test, officials said.

APPSC authorities, however, maintained that the attendance percentage in the state has increased this year compared to previous years. “In 2005, the attendance percentage for main’s examination was just 38.09% and in 2007 it was 53.05%. The overall percentage has increased substantially,” said Malakondaiah.

Meanwhile, the OU-JAC criticized the APPSC authorities for conducting the exam at a time when the T region is going through a political turmoil. “We had got calls from several candidates who wanted us to stop the exam as they could not reach the centres on time. The candidates spend years preparing for the test and they missed the test as APPSC refused to postpone the same,” said M Krishank, OU-JAC spokesperson.

Source : TOI