Pressure builds as Maharashtra PCS aspirants wait for exam, interviews & results

PUNE: Over 5,700 pending interviews of qualified candidates, non-declaration of results of 1,300 candidates and a delay in conducting the exam which was postponed in May 2020, is mounting the pressure on Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) candidates.
The suicide of MPSC aspirant Swapnil Lonkar last week has brought to fore the plight of many aspirants. An online campaign started hours after Lonkar’s death had students demanding that the commission start the process as soon as possible.

Lonkar, who had cleared the MPSC written examination in 2019, was found hanging from the ceiling fan at his Phursungi residence on Wednesday. In his suicide note, Lonkar said pressure had built up due to growing uncertainty in the MPSC exams schedules and an overall pandemic situation.
Following his suicide, the state government formed an expert committee announced by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray that would suggest ways to avoid impending delays after the exams are conducted.
Mandar Patki and IAS of 2019 batch, now assistant collector in Amravati, said, “Swapnil Lonkar’s case is ugly reality of competitive examinations. To all aspirants out there, think a thousand times before taking any extreme decision, talk to someone, try to formulate a Plan B and work on it. MPSC should not be an end in itself.”
Prasad Nawale, an aspirant, said, “The government must take the exam seriously. The delay in the process is adding to the pressure youths face. We have been waiting for the interviews for years but the government seems incompetent.”
Mukesh Gade, another aspirant, said, “First, it was the pandemic, then, it was the reservation issue and in between them we have waited for two years for the interviews to be conducted. We hope that this suicide is an eye opener for the government and it takes immediate steps in the positive direction and saves lives.”
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Monday staged a protest at the collectorate to condemn the death of Lonkar. “We have staged a protest today in order to ensure such a sad incident does not take place again. If the government keeps neglecting the aspirants, then we will scale up this protest.”
There was high drama at the collectorate when an aspirant tried to jump from the floor into the security net to express her disappointment. She was rescued by the staff members. The police took custody of two aspirants who had jumped into the security net.
A group of candidates from Aurangabad who have already cleared the examination but are yet to receive postings has renewed the demand for job letters at the earliest.
The candidates said that having no job despite cracking the examination has left them heartbroken.
They said that they were facing pressure from family and society due to their unemployment.