The Gurukul Postgraduate Teachers (PGT) exam in Telangana faced a two-hour delay on Monday due to a technical problem, sparking protests by candidates at several locations. Thousands of candidates were seen waiting outside the exam centres across the state since early morning, IANS reported.

The English exam for the recruitment of PGTs in Telangana's residential educational institutions was scheduled to commence at 8:30 a.m. at all online exam centres. However, candidates were not allowed into the centre at the scheduled time. When they inquired, the staff informed them that the exam had been delayed due to a technical problem with the server.

The candidates grew agitated as there was no indication of the exam's commencement even after 10 a.m. The aspirants, including women, engaged in heated arguments with the staff and police officers stationed at the exam centres.

Candidates complained that the delay was causing them significant inconvenience as they had travelled from other districts to write the exam.

At one exam centre in Hayathnagar, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, candidates staged a protest by sitting on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada road, leading to a traffic jam.

Candidates were eventually allowed into the centre at around 10:30 a.m., and the exam finally began at 10:45 a.m.

Candidates are concerned that the delay will impact two other exams scheduled for the day. While the physical science exam was supposed to take place at 12:30 p.m., the biological science exam was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Authorities are likely to postpone these two exams.

The Telangana Residential Educational Institutions Recruitment Board (TREIRB) has been conducting exams since August 1 for 9210 posts across nine categories. Over 2.66 lakh candidates have applied for these exams.

As part of this process, exams for the recruitment of 1,276 postgraduate teachers were scheduled for Monday. Recruitment exams are also being held for 4,020 trained graduate teachers, 868 lecturers, physical directors, and librarians in degree colleges, 2008 junior lecturers, physical directors, and librarians in junior colleges, and 434 librarians in schools.
The exams are scheduled to conclude on August 23.