Bombay HC Typing Test Glitches Trigger Protests at Kalyan APMC Centre in Thane

Around 300 candidates appearing for the Bombay High Court clerk recruitment typing test staged a protest at the Kalyan APMC Market examination centre in Thane on Sunday after severe technical glitches disrupted the process. The candidates held a sit-in protest, stopped the vehicle of a district judge, and demanded that the examination be conducted afresh.

The typing test for clerical posts, including typists and stenographers, was scheduled to take place in three shifts at the Kalyan centre. The test was part of a statewide examination for 1,300 posts under the High Court’s Nagpur and Aurangabad benches, for which around 13,000 candidates across Maharashtra were eligible.

Trouble began after the first batch of candidates completed their shift. Aspirants alleged that computers malfunctioned, keyboards failed to work properly, and the examination software suffered from slow server responses.

Pratik Sable, an aspirant at the Kalyan centre, said the first batch emerged from the centre at around 5pm. After hearing about the technical failures faced by the first group, candidates scheduled for the second and third batches refused to sit for the test, expressing concern that they would either fail or be marked absent due to faulty equipment.

The protesting candidates demanded that those in the first batch not be marked absent and insisted on a complete re-examination. During the agitation, aspirants stopped the vehicle of the district judge outside the centre to present their demands directly.

Similar protests over computer malfunctions, unexpected system logouts, and slow servers took place across Maharashtra, including in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Bhandara, Washim, and Nanded. Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, who joined protests in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, also spoke to candidates at the Kalyan centre via video call, urging them to seek written assurances for a fresh test.