Telangana High Court cancels TSPSC Group-1 prelims, orders government to reconduct exam

In March this year, the TSPSC announced the cancellation of the Group-1 preliminary exam, which was held on 16 October 2022, due to a paper leak issue. Then, it was conducted for a second time on 11 June, but it was found that the candidates had faced problems with the arrangements.

While hundreds of candidates are questioning the working model of the Telangana State Public Service Commission, the Telangana High Court declared the decision in the afternoon.

Related: TSPSC paper leak: SIT to identify candidates with Bluetooth

What aspirants say

“They are not understanding the seriousness of the Group-1 examination in Telangana. There are hundreds of aspirants preparing for it, many resigning from their jobs. One to two years have gone by due to the interval in conducting the examination. Five other candidates and I moved to the city, thinking that TSPSC will do the work smoothly, but here comes a decision and we have no say in it,” Akshara, an aspirant, told South First.

Ravi, another aspirant, told South First, “It is the efficiency of the government wing. There are IAS officials working as the secretary and chairman, but it is surprising that they did not think to arrange the biometrics. It will take a year again to announce the examinations. This time, we do not want Minister KT Rama Rao telling us that they will allow us to apply without fee. We want him to promise us that errors will not happen and the government will conduct the examination properly and provide us with jobs.”

Raising important points, another aspirant, Raju, told South First, “I am from a rural background. Imagine the expense of living in the city to attend to our studies. Another point I want to put out is to let TSPSC allow new candidates to write the examination instead of only candidates who have previously applied because their precious time is at risk. Why should they wait for the previous batches to finish the exam and then wait for their turn to come?”

Also read: HC asks why politicians were summoned in TSPSC paper leak case

Revanth Reddy reacts

Reacting to the verdict of the Telangana High Court, state Congress chief A Revanth Reddy described it as a “slap on the face of the Telangana government”.

In an open letter to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Reddy said that if the high court has to ask the TSPSC to hold the preliminary examinations, it indicated that the institutions were systematically demolished under the present dispensation.

He predicted that the affected students would hand over the government the punishment that it deserves for playing with their lives.

He recalled how youth had formed the bulwark for the Telangana movement and how they kept the movement alive till the formation of Telangana state. He also reminded the chief minister of the pivotal role students and youth played in mulki and non-mulki movements, the first phase of the Telangana movement in 1969, and the second phase, which culminated in the creation of Telangana state in 2014.

Related: TSPSC paper leak: 2 more, including a panchayat secretary, held

In his letter, he said that the government had displayed incompetence in conducting examinations for the youth, which was evidenced by the leak of question papers of EAMECT, recruitment test to power utilities, SSC examination, and now, the prelims of the Group-1 exam.

It was unfortunate that though the government had failed in conducting the examinations one after the other, there was no introspection and no remedial measures were taken, he said.

He said that the government should have reconstituted the TSPSC the moment it came to know that the question papers were leaked. But the government ignored the the Opposition’s advice.

He said that after the Congress takes over the reins in the state, it would develop fool-proof systems for conducting the examinations for recruitment to the government vacancies.

“We will fill two lakh government jobs within one year of coming to power,” Revanth Reddy said.