Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke alleges technical failures in the Bombay HC clerk recruitment exam, claiming faulty equipment led to candidates failing. Students protested, while the exam centre director called the issue 'minor'.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday alleged technical failures during the Bombay High Court's clerk recruitment typing test, claiming that there was faulty equipment and non-functional keyboards that left candidates being declared failed within minutes of the exam beginning. Students also protested over the alleged technical disruptions during the test in Kalyan-Dombivli.
Speaking to reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dipke said that students had informed him of the issues shortly after the exam, which was held in the morning. "Students just informed me that they had a High Court exam this morning. As soon as they sat down to take it, they discovered that for some, the mouse wasn't working, and for others, the keyboard was faulty. Within 10 minutes, the majority of the students were logged out, and subsequently, they were all declared failed. It is a failure of the system and the government, which is unable to conduct online exams properly," he said.
Authorities' response and call for re-test
Claiming that concerned authorities failed to address the concerns, Dipke said that affected candidates were met with dismissive remarks rather than a resolution. "When they complained to the authorities inside, they were told that they lacked the sense to take an exam properly. If the authorities possessed so much more wisdom than these students, they should have used it to install better computers and functional keyboards, and to ensure the servers were working correctly beforehand," he said.
Dipke said he has learnt that there was a District Court judge present at the venue during the exam and called on the Judge to give written assurance about a re-test on functioning equipment. "I was told that a District Court judge was present inside; he should come out and give a written assurance that the exam will be re-conducted, and not on the same faulty computers used today. Such a situation must not happen again; the students' futures are at stake," he said, adding, "I want the District Judge to come down here if he wishes to speak."
'Why persist in holding them?'
He claimed that online examinations conducted across the state and country were plagued with technical failures, questioning why authorities continued to hold digital tests despite a pattern of technical failures. "If you lack the necessary infrastructure and cannot conduct online exams properly, why are you holding them in the first place? What is the purpose? This isn't the first time, across the country and in Maharashtra, that online exam servers have crashed or hardware like keyboards and mice has failed to function; this happens with every exam. Name just one online exam that was conducted smoothly. When you know full well that you are incapable of managing these online exams, why do you persist in holding them and jeopardising students' futures?" he said.
Exam centre director refutes allegations
However, Sanjay Wankhede, Director of Sornet ITE Genus Private Limited, which ran the examination centre where the test was held, pushed back against the allegations. He said that the exam had already been done and any hiccup was minor, urging the candidates to remain calm. "The Bombay High Court exam was scheduled at my centre, and it has already been conducted; the first session is over. Things are moving a bit slowly due to a technical issue with printing, but it is just a minor problem that will be resolved. All the keyboards at our centre are brand new. We have all the necessary facilities available here. As for the students who are creating a commotion, I would simply request them to remain calm," he told reporters. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)