Local students say A.P. candidates ‘taking away their jobs’; online exam disrupted

The online exams conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) to fill posts in Regional Rural Banks (RRB) on Saturday in Kalaburagi and Hubballi cities witnessed trouble as members of local Kannada organisations protested against candidates from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana writing exams here. There was argument and altercation until the police stepped in.

The local students alleged that aspirants from Andhra Pradesh were “taking away their jobs”. In Hubballi, the agitation turned violent with stones being thrown on the institute and a local candidate trying to harm himself by cutting his forearm. He was admitted to the hospital and is now recuperating.

Disruption in schedule

After their attempts to convince the protesters failed, the police warned them of serious action if they failed to withdraw the agitation. However, as the allotted time for the first two slots of the online examination ended, no one was able to appear for them in Kalaburagi and Hubballi. The subsequent examinations went ahead as per schedule. In Ballari, however, examinations were held despite a group of local candidates and members of pro-Kannada organisations staging a protest outside the venue.

Madhusekhar, a student from Nandyal, who travelled to Karnataka to appear for the test, said that since the number of posts are more in Karnataka, many banking aspirants from Andhra Pradesh applied. He said a group of students from Karnataka, who underwent coaching for the examination in Nandyal, had informed the Kannada groups back home that a good number of Andhra Pradesh were aspiring for the posts.

“We were stopped at the Hubballi railway station and prevented from leaving. Some of my friends, who had reached a day before, had difficulty finding a lodge as the local Kannada activists had warned the owners not to allow Andhra candidates,” he claimed.

Low cut-off mark

Madhu Priya, a bank job aspirant who wrote the test in Vijayawada, said the low cut-off marks in Karnataka attracted students to the State.

Meanwhile, sources said those who missed the examinations would be given another chance to appear for the online examination. Bengaluru city Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar said security will be deployed at the centres where recruitment exam for probationary officer posts in regional rural banks are being held on Sunday. The jurisdictional police officials have been directed to ensure law and order, he said.