Serious concerns have been raised by students appearing for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recruitment examination, as alleged irregularities in exam centre allocation and lack of basic facilities have sparked widespread outrage among them.
Students claim that despite paying an examination fee of Rs 1,000 and preparing for months with high hopes, they were allotted private and poorly equipped exam centres, many of which resembled roadside structures with no basic amenities, inadequate security, and questionable credibility.
Candidates alleged that they have been assigned centres in far-off districts, forcing unnecessary travel. “A student from Sangli was sent to Latur, candidates from Latur to Kolhapur, Nashik students to Jalgaon, and Kolhapur students to Amravati. This feels less like an examination and more like forced migration,” said one candidate.
As a result, students gathered outside the PMC premises, demanding that the examination be conducted exclusively at TCS iON centres.
Rajesh Kapse, an aspirant, speaking to The Free Press Journal, said, “For a fair examination of the PMC, we have been protesting for the last two days. We have met the Commissioner and Additional Commissioner of PMC six times, but no solution has been found yet. The exam was initially scheduled on December 1, but it was postponed due to the elections. Now the administration has sanctioned private centres for the exams. For better transparency, we are demanding government-authorised places like TCS iON centres. But the authorities are not listening.”
Another student, Jitesh Kamthe, said, “We had met the PMC officials in December as well and requested them to schedule the exam in government-authorised centres like TCS iON, etc. But they have intentionally fixed the exam centres in private places where we usually hear about multiple fraud cases.”
Mahesh Jagtap, another aspirant, highlighted, “They have given exam centres that are more than 500 kilometres away. Why, when there are so many centres in Pune? We have already paid Rs 1,000 as the registration fee, and now they are forcing us to travel more. For transparency in the exam and convenience to students, we are demanding a change in the exam centres.”
A female student said, “I have filled out the form for the PMC exam. I have never been to Nagpur, and my exam is in the first shift. Just six days before the exam, the administration notified us. Trains are facing mega blocks and enough buses are also not available. The exam centre should be at an authorised place in the city. The administration should think according to student convenience. Proper planning should be done.”
