Candidates appearing for the test on Sunday, August 16, complained of server failures, malfunctioning keyboards, defective screens and sudden logouts during the tightly timed examination. Similar problems were reported at centres in Kalyan, Nanded, Washim and Bhandara, widening an initially local dispute into a state-wide recruitment controversy.
Dipke reached the protest site at Surana Nagar in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where candidates had gathered outside the examination centre. He backed their demand for another opportunity to take the test and argued that applicants should not suffer because of failures in the examination infrastructure.
“The keyboard and server were not working and candidates were being logged out within 10 minutes,” Dipke said. He questioned how a selection test could be treated as fair when an entire shift was allegedly affected and called for the examination to be conducted again.
The typing test carried 20 marks and required candidates to type a legal passage within 10 minutes. Candidates said disruptions during such a short examination left little scope to recover lost time. Some also complained that the software did not accurately reconcile words typed with words omitted, raising questions about how their performance would be assessed.
Around 11,000 candidates were scheduled to take the test at 19 centres across Maharashtra. The recruitment exercise followed an advertisement issued in December 2025 for about 1,380 clerk posts. The preliminary examination was held on April 26, with the typing test forming a key subsequent stage of the selection process.
The disruption was particularly severe at the Kalyan APMC Market examination centre, where more than 600 candidates protested. Authorities there later acknowledged in writing that the examination could not be conducted because of technical problems and that candidates had reported at the venue on time.
The test at Kalyan had been arranged in three shifts. Candidates from the first shift reported problems to those waiting for later sessions, after which some aspirants decided against taking the test. They feared that technical failures could result in them being marked absent or unsuccessful through no fault of their own.
Protesters staged a sit-in outside the centre and sought assurances that affected candidates would be allowed to appear again under reliable arrangements. Candidates at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar also continued their demonstration into the evening as officials and police arrived at the site.
The Bombay High Court registrar said the test had been conducted smoothly across most of Maharashtra but acknowledged technical difficulties at some centres, particularly Kalyan and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The technical issues connected with the process were being examined, and candidates would be informed of the appropriate course of action through an official communication.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’s principal district judge also met protesters and told them that their grievances would be placed before the High Court committee responsible for deciding the next course of action. There was no immediate decision on whether affected candidates would receive extra time, a limited re-test or a fresh examination covering a wider group.
Dipke also spoke by video call with candidates protesting at Kalyan after they contacted him about the disruption. He urged them to continue pressing for a resolution and sought an official notification on a re-test as well as hard copies of examination-related records for affected candidates.
The episode adds another examination-related issue to CJP’s expanding campaign around students, recruitment aspirants and public education. The movement, which began as a satirical online platform, has increasingly moved into street protests over examination administration and employment concerns. Dipke has made alleged failures in competitive examinations a central part of the group’s mobilisation since its first major public protest in New Delhi in June.
(IPA Service)
