Over 61,500 candidates converged in Lucknow for the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission's (UPPSC) Review Officer - Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) Preliminary Examination 2023, with many of them left stranded on Saturday night, July 26, with nowhere to stay.
While hotels, lodges, and shelters were operating at capacity, thousands more UPPSC RO-ARO aspirants from other districts, including Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, and Barabanki, were forced to spend the night on railway platforms, bus stops, and streets.
The exam, which was administered at 129 locations around Lucknow on Sunday, July 27, showed the city's inability to handle the rush. Scenes of young aspirants sleeping on plastic sheets, studying notes under insufficient lighting and eating meals on pavements gave a bleak picture of the night before the exam, Hindustan Times reports.
By Saturday evening, there were large crowds at Charbagh Railway Station, Qaiserbagh Bus Stand, and neighbourhoods near important exam centres.
District Magistrate Vishak G and Joint Police Commissioner (Law and Order) Babloo Kumar examined the transit points and test sites, claiming that plans for 'rain baseras' (night shelters), drinking water, toilets, and crowd management had been established. However, many candidates complained that the amenities were either insufficient or unavailable.
However, railway officials insisted that the Lucknow division of the Northern Railway had implemented meticulous arrangements at the Charbagh station to deal with the crowds.
“To manage the anticipated rush, 65 additional staff members have been deployed at the station. Special teams have been stationed on each platform for effective crowd management. Additional ticket and enquiry counters have been set up to ease passenger movement and reduce waiting times,” said Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Northern Railway (Lucknow), Kuldeep Tiwari.
