Derailment: Constables miss PSI exam due to train delays

A 35-year-old police constable, who left from his residence in Mulund at 7:40am and boarded the train at 8:10am, was stranded at Vikhroli for more than an hour

Mumbai Over a hundred police constables could not appear for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) departmental exam for the post of police sub inspector (PSI) as local train services were disrupted on the Central line due to the Friday night derailment between Matunga and Dadar.

A woman police constable, who is in her late thirties, said, “This was my last chance to become an officer. I have studied day and night but because of the train derailment, I was stuck almost two hours between Vikhroli and Ghatkopar.” (Bhushan Koyande)

“There were several constables who lost their chance of becoming an officer. We got a chance to appear in the departmental exam after five years. Last time, the exam was conducted in 2017. The exam is mostly planned by the concerned department of MPSC once there are multiple vacancies for the post of police sub inspectors,” said a police official.

A 35-year-old police constable, who left from his residence in Mulund at 7:40am and boarded the train at 8:10am, was stranded at Vikhroli for more than an hour.

“I walked on the railway track till Ghatkopar and took a taxi but I was delayed by five minutes. The centre did not let me sit for the exam,” said the disappointed constable.

He further said, “I tried to speak to the Mumbai police commissioner but he did not pick up. We called the control room. Senior officers from the local police station and even deputy commissioner of police Vijay Patil came to the spot, but we were not allowed.”

Vijay Patil said, “Sixty six candidates reached late at two centres that fall under my jurisdiction in Matunga. Some of them were delayed by five minutes and the maximum time for reaching late at the centre was 15 minutes, but the authorities did not allow them citing the example of others who reached on time.”

A woman police constable, who is in her late thirties, said, “This was my last chance to become an officer. I have studied day and night but because of the train derailment, I was stuck almost two hours between Vikhroli and Ghatkopar.”

The lady constable stated that she resided at Wada in the Bhiwandi area and had left home at 6:45 am on Saturday. “I boarded the train from Mulund at 7:36. My exam centre was in Byculla and till 10am I was between Vikhroli and Ghatkopar. I jumped from the train on the railway track and walked till Ghatkopar, from where I took an auto till Sion and later hired a taxi to Byculla. I reached at 10:55 at the exam centre,” she said.

Pratap Dighavkar, special inspector general and member MPSC board said, “As per the public service commissioner, the candidates shall report before time schedule. Many candidates approached me because they were delayed due to the train derailment, so I requested my officer to allow them to appear for the examination if someone reached three to five minutes late. But some of them messaged me at 11:15 and 11:30 when exam papers were already distributed.”

He further added that he will put forth the issue before the commission. “If there are some unavoidable circumstances, we must think on the sympathetic ground,” said Dighavkar adding that nothing has been decided yet. They are now preparing a list of candidates who could not appear for the exam.

Joint secretary Sunil Awatade, incharge of the MPSC examination, said, “A total of 27,000 police constables across Maharashtra (candidates) applied for the examination and 8,000 candidates were from Mumbai. But it is very difficult to get the list of people who did not appear. After a week or two weeks, we will be able to get the exact number of candidates.”

“If any candidate is late, even for a second, they will not be allowed. There is clear instruction that no excuse is accepted. There is a lot of work like verification of the candidates and also identifying if any dummy candidates are there and such things can’t happen if the candidates get late,” added Awatade.