BTechs, MBAs, PhDs take test for post of Patwari

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 24

Many overqualified candidates took the examination for the post of Patwari today. Many of the candidates were BTech, MBA, LLB and even PhD.

The examination centres were set up in seven districts of the state, including Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Patiala and Ludhiana, apart from Chandigarh. The examination was conducted by Panjab University.

When asked why candidates were taking the examination despite it was below their qualification, Gurmeet Singh Singh, an MTech, said it was hard to find any government job these days. So, he had come to take the examination despite it being much below his qualification and different from what he had studied. Navneet, an LLB, practising at Khanna, said she wanted to get a government job and that is the reason she wanted to take the examination.

Dinesh, who is a PhD, said he was feeling compelled to take the test as the scenario has turned bleak in terms of government jobs. “We have to work and can’t sit home,” Parminder Singh, another MSc BEd, said.

Gurpreet Singh said despite the fact that it was demoralising to be taking tests below their qualification, what could they do? There isn’t much choice. When asked, a relative of another candidate got miffed. He said highly qualified people had been applying for the posts of peon in the state, but this is still a more respectable post of Patwari.

Meanwhile, many women also took the examination.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Agarwal said teams, including observers from Panjab University and staff from the district administration, were deployed for conducting the examination. The test,comprising objective-type questions, was held from 11 am to 1 pm. Prof PK Sharma, chief coordinator for the examination, said nearly 1.25 lakh candidates were supposed to take the test across the state, but about 70 per cent appeared for it.