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A day after gridlock, Punjab yet to decide fate of examination
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Traffic mess in Chandigarh An exam to recruit 461 Food Inspectors in Punjab's Food and Civil Supplies Department was conducted at more than 300 centres in the Chandigarh area on Sunday Around 1.86 lakh candidates had applied for these posts, but only 1.20 lakh could appear in the test at centres set up in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali Most of the candidates could not make it to the centres following traffic jams in and around Chandigarh

Chandigarh, December 16
The Punjab Government is yet to decide whether to cancel the exam conducted yesterday to recruit 461 Food Inspectors (category B) in the State's Food and Civil Supplies, Department. The exam was conducted by Panjab University on behalf of the State Government.

Thousands of candidates were unable to reach examination centres in time following traffic jams around Chandigarh. An estimated 1.86 lakh candidates applied for these posts, but only 1.20 lakh could appear in the test at centres set up in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. There were separate question papers for the two-shift exams.

"We met university officials today and we plan to meet them yet again to sort out the issue. The University has sought reports from observers deputed to conduct the examination", said DS Grewal, Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Department.

The university authorities have also reported to the State Government that the question paper was not leaked. A controversy erupted when some students tried to copy the question paper with the help of their mobile phones and mail it out. Sources, however, say the paper was leaked before the exam began.

A university official said the Punjab government had insisted on the location of the test centres in the tricity. The way the test was conducted has made thousands of unemployed youth looking for a job angry. Many of them, especially girls, who had come all the way from places like Malout, Fazilka and Amritsar were seen crying and frantically looking for help to enter the examination halls.

"Instead of playing the role of a facilitator for the unemployed youth like us, the State Government became our tormentor", said a girl, who had come from the Malwa region. "Why were we made to travel to Chandigarh for which we spent money and achieved nothing", she said.

The university authorities had reportedly told the government that all arrangements were in place.

The university has also said that around 15,000 candidates did not download their roll numbers.

However, there are reports that the roll numbers were uploaded only a day or two before the examination and that led to the choking of the system, making it difficult for the candidates to download roll numbers.