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Bihar’s 1.70 lakh teacher recruitment exam candidates have been stranded in the city for three days beyond the exam. Hotels in the city are full. There is also black marketing of rooms in hotels. On Tuesday, the situation was such that a hotel room was not available even for 6000 rupees. Although rooms are available, the hotel management has put up ‘no room’ boards and it is said that the examinees are being given rooms by charging more money. A center has been set up in Muzaffarpur for more than 25 thousand candidates from various districts for the examination to be held from August 24 to 26. Candidates coming from other districts need accommodation. Most of the aspirants have booked the hotel rooms online, but those who have not booked online earlier are at a disadvantage. Now hoteliers are busy exploiting them.
All the hotel managers in Madipur, Mithanpura, Bhagwanpur, Khabra, Akhadaghat, Tilak Maidan Road and NH Kinara in the city have started saying ‘no room’ from Monday itself. Those who are being given a room are being thanked and told that they were lucky to get a room. For this too, candidates are charged Rs 6,000 for a room which is charged Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000 per day on normal days.
Relatives of the candidates are looking for a house near the centre
Brother, no one will recognize me. You tell your friend, no, you get a room too. Have to stay for three days. There are also different centers. Where will the two girls live alone. No arrangements are being made. It would be better to get a room near the center. Phones kept ringing from different places including Patna in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday. Not only this, friends and relatives of the candidates are wandering in search of houses near the examination centers begging for rooms. Candidates are forced to stay in the city for three days. Have to reach the center two and a half hours before. The number of candidates appearing for the examination at two different centers is also large. One center is within the city and the other is outside the city. Accommodation of the examinees is being arranged by putting up tents in many places.
Candidates depend on the market, not on the administration
Despite the information that more than 25 thousand candidates appeared for the exam, no administrative initiative has been taken to help them. At the administrative level, neither any advice has been given to the hotel and guest house managers nor any steps have been taken to help the candidates. The candidates who came to the city from Tuesday evening were wandering around in search of accommodation.
Base of old relative and station platform
Apart from the homes of old acquaintances and relatives, the station platform has become a haven for the underprivileged with hotel rooms booked. Distant relatives who have houses around Muzaffarpur city have resorted to relatives in one way or another. For those who have no relatives and could not book a hotel room, the station platform is now the only support. There are hundreds of examinees who were fed up of going to all the guest houses without getting a hotel room even after bidding high at the last minute.
A candidate from Patna kept looking for a room in Aghoria market. He said that LNT and Bakhri DAV have different exam centers on different days. In Chakbasu, due to non-availability of rooms, several householders were engaged in setting up tents to accommodate 24 examinees.