Telangana’s public service exam bans henna, tattoos
HYDERABAD: Getting a government job is never easy. It has been made more difficult by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC), which has barred tens of thousands of jobseekers from wearing a whole range of things — from shoes to wrist watches and gold chains — for an upcoming examination.
Nearly 8 lakh candidates who have applied for 1,032 Group-II posts in the state have also been told not to sport tattoos on any part of their body or even ‘mehendi’ (henna) on their palms when they come to take the examination on November 11 and 13.
Married women have been told to leave their ‘mangalsutra’ back home. Any breach of the guidelines will mean being barred from the examination, the TSPSC circular said.
The examination is to recruit senior-level officers such as municipal commissioners, assistant commercial tax officers and sub-registrars in the revenue department.
The do’s and don’ts have left the candidates bewildered.
“One can understand if the commission has prohibited the usage of electronic gadgets like calculators, mobile phones, tablets, Bluetooth devices, recording instruments and even log tables. How can it ban a wrist watch or wallet or gold ornaments?” asked P Prasad, a candidate.
A TSPSC official, who refused to be named, said the instructions were issued only to ensure a fool-proof examination.
“Shoes and wrist watches are not allowed because there is every possibility that the candidates might hide copying material in them,” he said.
He said henna and tattoos were being discouraged because candidates have to go through bio-metric screening.
However, he said that the commission fears that there was a possibility of candidates scribbling answers within the designs and it could become difficult to inspect every student.
The commission has banned gold ornaments for the safety of the candidates as safekeeping of their valuables cannot be guaranteed, he said.