Day after, successful KPSC candidates are in despair

BANGALORE: Anger gave way to despair, and frustration swelled at Freedom Park on Friday, as the state cabinet's decision to scrap recruitment for 362 KAS posts sank into the successful candidates. Scores of them staged a protest demanding the government accept the selection list.
The government had on Thursday decided to scrap the 2011 examination for the posts after a CID inquiry revealed a fraud in the recruitment process.
The cabinet's decision has come as a huge blow to the hopes of the selected candidates. For 20 days, they had been fighting for their postings to materialize after having made the grade. Now, they have no hope left.
With no government official even paying them a cursory visit, frustration is swelling among the protesters.
"We are left with no choice but to commit suicide. Three years ago, we had given it everything, but now our situations have changed. Some of us are in the thick of family life. We cannot appear for the exams anymore," they said.
"We want chief minister Siddaramaiah to come here and listen to us. We don't know how he can take such a one-sided decision. He has no right to play with our future," some of them said.
On Friday, the families of the selected candidates joined the protest. Two women candidates were seen carrying infants with them.
Hemavathi R, who was selected for the post of taluk panchayat executive officer, told TOI she cannot imagine writing the exam again. "I was single when I wrote and passed the exams. Now, I have an eight-month-old son and cannot write the exams as it requires a lot of preparation. A government job is now only a chimera," she said.
As Thursday's anger gave way to desperation, the protesters appeared to be tiring. CS Dwarakanath, counsel for the selected candidates, said: "The candidates are shocked by the government's decision to scrap their appointment. They are not in a position to decide what to do next. We need time to think. We shall hold a meeting soon and decide the next course of action."
Anticipating untoward incidents, two KSRP battalions and 100 civil police personnel led by two DCPs, three ACPs and 10 inspectors were deployed at Freedom Park on Friday. "One ambulance with three doctors too was present there," police said.