Madhya Pradesh Job Hopefuls Crushed By Errors And Fees: "Paying To Be Cheated?"

In a small 10x10 room in Bhopal's Ashoka Garden area, two young men from different districts of Madhya Pradesh have been living, studying, and dreaming together for the past three years. Chandan Lodhi from Vidisha and Ajay Singh Maravi from Dindori have turned this cramped space into a kitchen, library, and bedroom-all in one.

There's no study table here. A makeshift mat made from cement bags becomes a bed at night after books are cleared. In one corner lie their ration, bedding, and notebooks - one of them left open beside a small stove, on which vegetables are being cooked. Hanging above is a picture of Lord Ram and a hand-written quote from Baba Saheb Ambedkar: "Education is the milk of a lioness, whoever drinks it will roar."

But how can these lions roar, they ask, when they're being charged just to question mistakes in the system?

The Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (ESB), formerly Vyapam, recently hiked the objection fee for errors in exam questions from Rs 60 to Rs 185, including GST. That means if the exam paper contains wrong or misleading questions, it's the students who must pay to correct the board's mistake.

"The money coming from home is barely Rs 2,500-3,000 a month," says Chandan. "Out of that, we pay for room rent, ration, coaching fees... and now, this objection fee. If four questions are wrong, it's Rs 740 gone. Why are we being penalised for their errors?"

Dreams Deferred, Not Delivered

Abhishek Singh from Bhopal has a similar story. He waited two years for the result of the MP Police Recruitment Exam. When it finally came, he missed the merit list by just 1.5 marks.

"People say it's just one and a half marks," he says, "but that was two years of my life - gone. If the result had come on time, I could have prepared for other exams. But I waited, and now that opportunity is lost too."

Adding to the frustration, candidates say they're no longer told which questions have already been challenged - forcing them to spend multiple objection fees on the same errors. "Is this a recruitment process or a subscription-based business?" asks one aspirant.

According to official data, The ESB has conducted 112 exams between 2016 and 2024. Over 1.5 crore candidates have applied. Rs 530 crore was collected from exam fees. Rs 278 crore was paid to agencies for online exams. Rs 58 crore was earned as interest from banks. Rs 297 crore was transferred to the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) for the Scooty-Laptop Scheme. Despite this, students continue to bear the brunt of exam mismanagement.

Broken Promises And Political Responses

In the run-up to the last election, then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had promised that candidates would no longer have to pay exam fees multiple times. "If you apply for five jobs, you'll only pay the fee once," he had said. That promise, however, has remained unfulfilled.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Hemant Katare criticised the state government: "Crores are being collected in the name of exam forms. And when the exams are cancelled or papers go wrong, the students get no refund. This system is punishing the youth for its own mistakes. The government should fine the question-setters, not the candidates."

Minister of State for Employment, Gautam Tetwal, however, dismissed the criticism. "Congress only knows how to make allegations. The BJP government is working fast and effectively," he said.

The infamous Vyapam scam may have rebranded itself as ESB, but students say nothing has changed beyond the nameplate. Their biggest concern now is not just the fee hike - but the fundamental question: When the system is at fault, why should the students pay the price?

For now, the wait for timely results, fair exams, and justice continues. And in rooms like the one in Ashoka Garden, hope flickers quietly in the corners, just like the single stove keeping the night warm.