“Exam cancellation allows more time for students who are unprepared,” Karthik Chaudhary justifies the frequent cancellations of competitive exams held by the Gujarat government. But his justification is ridiculed the very next moment by his friends sipping tea with him at a shop behind a clutch of coaching institutes in Sector 6 of Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. Karthik, a government job aspirant, is affiliated with the BJP.
As Gujarat votes in for 182 assembly seats on December 1 and 5, a string of exam paper cancellations — opposition parties put the number between 15 and 22 — has emerged as a major talking point among the state's unemployed youth. In the last five years, examinations for the posts of non-secretariat clerk, head clerk, constable, talathi, or village revenue officer, and forest guard have been cancelled because of leaks or administrative discrepancies – all Group 3 jobs, the lowest but one rung of government jobs. Of the total 4.9 crore voters in Gujarat, 1.03 crore are in the 20-29 age group.
