appsc woes

The economics of the APPSC examination



Candidates from across the State would be spending over Rs. 100 crore



Money-spinners: Coaching centres for Group-I and Group-II at Ashok Nagar in Hyderabad.

HYDERABAD: Candidates preparing for the coming Group-II and Group-1 recruitment tests would face some questions on the Indian economy. But little would they have realised that there is an interesting side to the economics involving their exam preparations.

All the candidates preparing for these competitive exams across the State would be spending over Rs. 100 crore, be it for coaching classes or buying books!

An estimated six lakh candidates would be appearing for the Group-II test and above two lakh for the Group-1 exam. “Each candidate spends a minimum of Rs. 1,000 in the name of preparing for the exams. Eight lakh aspirants mean Rs. 80 crore,” Ramana of Habsiguda says. He appeared for both the previous Group-1 and Group-II exams but could not succeed.
Accommodation

Rs. 80 crore apart, candidates taking coaching at different institutes would pay thousands of rupees towards fees, boarding and lodging. Depending on their reputation and standards, each institute fixes fees. The Group-II exam consists of three papers. The institutes are charging fee ranging from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 for each paper.

If one wants to attend coaching classes in Hyderabad, gathering money for the coaching institute fee is not enough. As most of the coaching centres are located either at Ashoknagar or Ameerpet, candidates would prefer to rent rooms in and around these localities.

Thanks to the Government’s announcement about the recruitments, the house owners and private hostel operators have jacked up the rents. Landlords are demanding Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 6,000 rent per month for a single room that would have got a highest rent of Rs. 1,500 or Rs. 2,000 during normal times.
Advance

“As if the high rent is not enough, the house owners are forcing us to pay rent of two to three months in advance. We have no option but bow to their stipulations,” Raju of Karimnagar says. He calculates that on an average each candidate taking coaching classes in Hyderabad or other cities like Warangal, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam would spend not less than Rs. 10,000 towards coaching fee and expenses for boarding and lodging.

Even if five per cent of the eight lakh aspirants avail of coaching, which comes to about 40,000, they would be incurring expenditure of Rs. 40 crore, he remarks. Thus, nearly all the candidates put together would be spending over Rs. 120 crore for preparing for the exams. Is spending so much money logical despite knowing that there are only 2,000 posts in both the categories? “After all, we are unemployed and of course optimists,” says Mr. Raju.