Several Group-I job aspirants on Wednesday, October 17, staged a protest in Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad, against the Telangana government, asking them to postpone the Group-I mains exams scheduled for October 21. The police later detained the protesters who were opposing a Government Order (G.O. 29), issued by the newly-formed Congress government on February 8 this year. 

The aspirants belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Class communities say the controversial order violates the reservation policy and restricts their entry in Telangana Public Service Commission. Many petitions challenging the constitutional validity of G.O. 29 have been filed by candidates.

Before launching their protest on Wednesday, the aspirants had invited Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) seeking his support for their cause on X platform. KTR responded positively to the appeal and said, “Will meet you tomorrow either at Ashok Nagar or at Telangana Bhavan.  BRS party will make sure that you will get justice. And we will continue to remind the Telangana youth on how the Congress led by @RahulGandhi cheated you with the promise of 2 Lakh Govt jobs within 1 year.”

However, the police promptly cleared the protest site by detaining the aspirants. The detained protesters were taken to various police stations. The protesters said the police were violating their right to protest. 

Why are aspirants protesting against G.O. 29?

In 2022, the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC) under the previous BRS government issued a Group 1 notification for 503 posts. The preliminary exam was held in October 2022 but was cancelled by the Telangana High Court after it was found that the question paper was leaked. In June 2023, the preliminary exam was conducted again but had to be cancelled due to lapses in conducting the examination, such as the failure to take biometric attendance of candidates.

After the Congress party came to power, the TGPSC cancelled the 2022 notification and issued a fresh one in February 2024. An additional 60 posts were added to the original 503, and the new notification allowed both previously applied candidates and new candidates to apply.

However, while the 2022 notification specified that candidates for the mains exam would be selected as per G.O. 55, which applied the rule of reservation in a 1:50 ratio to the number of posts, the 2024 notification amended G.O. 55 and introduced it as G.O. 29. Under G.O. 29, the rule of reservation for the selection of candidates in the preliminary exam was removed, the aggrieved aspirants say.

For instance, even if an SC or ST candidate secured high marks and was eligible to compete in the open category, they were still counted under the reserved category, which is a violation of the reservation policy. Such a process would restrict the entry of aspirants from the reserved communities, they say. 

According to the aspirants, as G.O. 29 was applied for selecting candidates for the mains exam in the 1:50 ratio, many reserved candidates were denied their right to write the mains exam.

The controversial G.O. 29 is currently being challenged in the Telangana High Court. In addition, there are several other pending cases in the High Court pointing out flaws in the exam process conducted by the TGPSC.

It is not just the reserved candidates who are demanding the postponement of the exams. There is concern  that if the government proceeds with the exam without resolving the legal issues, they might have to again appear for the exams which would cause significant delay. Their concerns have a precedence. The Group-I exams conducted in 2011 were postponed over such issues for nearly five years, they were finally conducted in 2016. 

Though the aspirants had given representations to the TGPSC secretary and chairman seeking the deferment of the exams until the pending legal cases are resolved, the TGPSC has decided to conduct the mains exam from October 21 to 27.

On October 16, the Telangana High Court heard a petition challenging G.O 29. During the hearing, the TGPSC informed the court that the results will likely be announced within three months. The court observed: “In this view of the matter, we are only inclined to direct that any selection made hereafter shall remain subject to the final outcome of the matter.” The next hearing is scheduled for November 20.