State Bank of India’s Probationary Officer (PO) examination 2011- No fee receipts, so 300 candidates lose chance to take a shot at exam

State Bank of India’s Probationary Officer (PO) examination 2011- No fee receipts, so 300 candidates lose chance to take a shot at exam

Pune About 300 candidates appearing for the State Bank of India’s Probationary Officer (PO) examination were in for a rude shock when they reached their centres on Sunday. They were turned away after they failed to furnish the exam fee receipts.

According to exam guidelines, candidates need to furnish identification proof, hall ticket, bio-data and a cash voucher. Usually if a candidate fails to furnish any of these documents, he/she is made to sign an undertaking saying they would furnish the documents later. But this year, almost 300 students were turned away from five centres out of 27 in the city for not being able to furnish the cash voucher for the fee submitted. The five centres where the problem surfaced were New English School, Tilak Road, Ness Wadia College, Modern College and MIT.

Santosh Sapkale, who had come from Jalgaon to appear for the exam at The New English School, said, “The bank gives us a receipt on depositing Rs 500. I somehow misplaced my receipt. When I went to the bank and informed them about the receipt, they told me I would be made to sign an undertaking at the exam centre. I also confirmed the same with the Mumbai centre. However, today, after I sat for the exam, I was told that I could not continue since I did not have the receipt.”

Avinash Kankute, who came from Hingoli, faced a similar situation. He said, “Almost half-an-hour after I began writing my exam, I was asked to leave the hall. I have been preparing for this exam for the past one year. The fact that we had the hall ticket showed we had submitted the fee. There was no need to take such an extreme step.”

Shantanu Pendse, chief test administrator, New English School, Tilak Road, said they followed the guidelines laid down by the bank. M K Govil, assistant general manager, SBI Pune, said, “It was important for students to produce the receipt. We did not allow candidates to sit for the exam because we followed the guidelines given to us from the head office.”

Some candidates are planning to move the Bombay High Court if the bank refuses to take action in the matter. “We are planning to meet the branch manager on Monday. If nothing positive comes out of it, we are planning to take the matter to the court,” said Akshay Kanojia, one of the candidates.