Bengaluru: Over 50 candidates slated to appear for the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) mains exam were unable to take the test on Saturday following a last-minute and poorly communicated hall ticket distribution process by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
The candidates are now demanding the state government and the High Court of Karnataka to intervene and ensure justice to them, as reported by The New Indian Express on Sunday.
The confusion began after the Karnataka High Court allowed around 120 aspirants—previously left out because of some confusion in the Kannada translation of a question paper for the preliminary exam—to appear for the mains. Acting on the court’s directive, the KPSC instructed these candidates to submit their applications and fees by 3:00 p.m. on May 2 and collect their hall tickets in person from its Bengaluru office at 5:30 p.m. the same day.
However, the KPSC issued a fresh notification at 9:40 p.m. on Friday—just hours before the exam—stating that hall tickets would be available only until 12:00 a.m. With the exam scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, this sudden change caused significant confusion and distress among candidates, the report added.
Several candidates rushed to the KPSC office, only to be stopped at the gate. When they protested, the police reportedly resorted to a lathicharge to control the crowd. Despite this, candidates continued to protest until they were allowed entry to collect their hall tickets one by one—some staying at the KPSC office until as late as 4:00 a.m.
While KPSC maintained that it complied with the court’s order, candidates argued that the last-minute communication and lack of clarity were unfair and exclusionary. They also questioned why only a limited group of candidates—those part of the court petition—were allowed to appear, despite over 5,000 aspirants having raised concerns. “There are 65,000 Kannada-medium candidates. If only a few are helped, is that the social justice promised by the chief minister?” TNIE quoted one candidate as saying.
Meanwhile, several candidates requested the governor to stop the exam immediately to prevent injustice to them. Additionally, allegations of bias and result manipulation have also surfaced. A candidate from Bidar accused the commission of intentionally manipulating the process to favour certain candidates. “If KSEAB can conduct SSLC and PU exams smoothly, why can't KPSC? Unless there’s something to hide,” he remarked.
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Thane (PTI): Authorities have seized illegally stored 1,839 gas cylinders and seven vehicles worth over Rs 67 lakh in the Dombivli MIDC area of Thane district, officials said on Saturday.
A special vigilance team of the Mumbai Rationing Department detected an illegal storage of domestic and commercial LPG cylinders in Phase-2 of Dombivli (East).
Cylinders belonging to multiple gas agencies were found stockpiled in closed vehicles, unauthorised warehouses, and open sheds without mandatory permissions from the Explosives Department, Fire Department, or oil companies, according to an official release.
