Group 1 Candidates Protest: Candidates staged another protest in Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad, demanding the rescheduling of the Group-1 mains examination. Police arrested 16 individuals who took to the streets with placards and moved them to the police station. During the process of taking the protesters into custody, the police resorted to a lathi charge, resulting in injuries to several individuals. In light of the Group-1 candidates’ protests, police presence continues in Ashok Nagar.
Line Clear for Group-1 Mains: Meanwhile, the Telangana government is facing protests from Group-1 candidates demanding the cancellation of G.O. No. 29 issued by the government and addressing issues regarding errors in previous preliminary examinations. Petitions have already been filed in both the High Court and the Supreme Court regarding this matter. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case on Monday. The Telangana High Court’s single bench recently dismissed the candidates’ petitions. However, when a petition was filed in the High Court’s division bench, the division bench upheld the ruling of the single bench. As a result, the line has been cleared for the Group-1 mains examination on the 21st of this month.
Candidates’ Protest: Meanwhile, candidates have been protesting for the past few days demanding the cancellation of the Group-1 examinations. On Thursday, candidates gathered in large numbers at a park in Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, urging the cancellation of the exams. They lamented that the mains should only be conducted after all cases related to Group-1 are resolved; otherwise, they would face severe difficulties. Tensions also arose on Wednesday night when candidates suddenly took to the road in Ashok Nagar, demanding that the exams be conducted only after addressing the errors in the previous preliminary examinations and after amending G.O. 29.
G.O. 29 Controversy: G.O. 29 was issued on February 8, amending G.O. 55 issued in 2022 regarding reservations for persons with disabilities. It is believed that considering candidates who scored more than those in the general category as unreserved is unfair to disabled candidates. They are requesting that candidates who scored higher than the general category be considered under the reservation category and called for the mains examination in a 1:50 ratio.
Candidates Approach the Supreme Court: Recently, Group-1 candidates approached the Supreme Court requesting the cancellation of G.O. No. 29. The petition states that despite their requests to implement G.O. 55, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has not responded. The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on this matter to Monday.
