2,700 TSPSC aspirants stare at uncertain future after being deemed 'non-local'

Hyderabad: From class II to IV, Erukulla Raju went to a school in Kunavaram mandal that fell under Khammam district in United Andhra Pradesh. After bifurcation, Kunavaram fell under East Godavari district and after the recent reorganisation of districts in Andhra Pradesh, it fell under Paderu district.Raju, who is 32 now and lives in Hyderabad, has been preparing for the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) exams since 2013. He was excited when the government issued the TSPSC job notification in March this year after 11 years.

But his excitement was short-lived. To his shock, Raju, who lived in Bhadradri Kothagudem and Hyderabad since class V, realised that he was a "non-local" candidate according to the TSPSC eligibility guidelines. "I never anticipated back when I was in class IV that the state would be bifurcated in 2014 and that this would impact me so much," says Raju. His parents are now asking him to stop preparing for the exam and look for a software job.

Like Raju, around 2,700 aspirants have been deemed "non-local" because of the new TSPSC guidelines. Also, according to the TSPSC notification, non-local candidates are eligible only for 5% of the jobs.

Who is a non-local candidate?

On 30 August 2018, the Telangana government issued GO MS No. 124, i.e. The Telangana Employment Public (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) order, giving guidelines about state government jobs in Telangana, the first of its kind since the bifurcation of United Andhra Pradesh.

According to this order, a candidate in order to be considered local should have studied for four consecutive years with the year in which they appeared for the qualifying exam in Telangana. In the case of TSPSC, the qualifying exam is the class VII exam and hence the candidates should have studied class IV, V, VI, and VII in Telangana in order to be considered local.

Why has it become a problem now?

After this government order in 2018, this is the first time the TSPSC exams are being conducted and hence it has become a problem now. "Many of the candidates did not know about this. Even in the application form, it was not clearly mentioned. It was only two days after applying that we received a message on our mobile phones directing us to pay an additional fee of Rs. 120 for being a non-local candidate. That is when we realised such a thing existed," says Manisha Bazar, a TSPSC aspirant.

Parents transfer, move children to new schools

Manisha's father was a government doctor and he was transferred to Kadapa when she was in class VI. So, Manisha and her mother moved with him and she continued her studies in a school in Kadapa. Because she completed her class VI and VII in Kadapa, which is presently in Andhra Pradesh, she is now a non-local candidate for the TSPSC exam. She says that her preparation for the TSPSC prelims exam scheduled for October is not going too well. "At the back of my mind, I always have this thought that even if I get through, will the government consider me and so on. Besides, I have to look after my baby, do household chores, and since the last few days, I have been running with other aspirants to meet different leaders and tell our concerns to them," says Manisha.

Another applicant, Krishna Teja, is in a dilemma now, thinking about whether he should write the exam. Since the TSPSC exams are being conducted for the first time after 2011, Krishna also fears there will be a lot of competition this time. Also, there is only a 5% reservation for non-local candidates in which the locals can also compete, says Krishna.

Krishna's father was a government doctor working in Hyderabad. In 1994, he got a promotion transfer to East Godavari district and he worked there till 2004. So, Krishna did his schooling from class I to VI in East Godavari. As a result, he is now a non-local candidate for the TSPSC exam.

Interestingly, Krishna says that he is also a non-local candidate for APPSC. "In Andhra Pradesh, one has to study from class IV to X in order to be considered local. I returned to Telangana in class VII so I am a non-local in AP as well," he says. "But this is the only exam that I can appear for now since I am 33. I have become ineligible for all the exams because of the age bar. So, I think I will give it a try," adds Krishna who gave up his full-time preparation for TSPSC last year due to financial constraints and familial pressures and started working as a junior assistant in the state judicial department.

Merit students also suffer

Sai Krishna is another TSPSC applicant who is facing a similar problem. "In class VI, I wrote the entrance exam and was selected for the Sainik School in Korukonda in Vizianagaram which was part of United AP and is presently in Vizianagaram district of AP. It is a prestigious school and I completed my class XII from there in 2016," he says. Even after the bifurcation, the Telangana government used to give scholarships to students from Telangana who studied at Sainik School in Korukonda, and interestingly, Krishna also used to receive a scholarship.

So far, the aspirants have met many politicians and leaders, including K. Ravinder Reddy from TSPSC, Nalgonda-Khammam-Warangal-Graduate constituency MLC Palle Rajeshwar Reddy, and health and finance minister Harish Rao, and given representations. But they have not received confirmation from any of them. "Recently, we decided to make a legal move and met an advocate but the charges are very high, as high as Rs. 30,000 per head, and not everybody can afford it," says Sai Krishna.