Mahajyoti test at Pune's Ambegaon Budruk centre called off over too few computers, faults

A screening test run by the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (Mahajyoti) descended into confusion at its Ambegaon Budruk centre in Pune today. The test is meant to select students for pre-training for several competitive examinations. Candidates said the centre did not have enough computers, that technical faults cropped up and that they could not sit the paper at the appointed hour. A big gathering of students collected outside the centre and expressed their anger.

Mahajyoti's official notice says the screening test for the 2026-27 batch of competitive exam pre-training is to be held from October 7 to 9, 2026. At Ambegaon Budruk, though, the paper did not start on schedule, which cost the students dearly. The test at this centre is understood to have been cancelled in the end, following the complaints about the shortage of machines and the disruption.

Mahajyoti offers pre-training for exams such as UPSC, MPSC, SSC, banking and railways to students from economically and socially disadvantaged sections. Such candidates spend many days preparing for these tests, so losing the chance to take one because of badly arranged facilities is a grave matter. Voices have been raised that the futures of these students must not be gambled with.

A fair inquiry at a high level into the whole episode at the Ambegaon centre is being sought. Those making the demand also want accountability fixed for the centre and firm action against any person or body found at fault. They say no student who missed the test at Ambegaon should be made to bear a loss. Their suggestion is either a separate fresh test for that centre or an equal second opportunity for every affected candidate. Mahajyoti's administration has also been asked to assure students in writing that the technical failure will not harm their results.

MLA Rohit Pawar has taken up the students' cause. OBC leader Vijay Wadettiwar is reported to have spoken to Mahajyoti's managing director on the matter. It is claimed that the institute's management told him the test at the Ambegaon centre would be cancelled and that further steps would follow.

The demand now is that Mahajyoti go beyond the cancellation and explain its position without delay. Specifically, the technical breakdown at Ambegaon should be probed, and responsibility should be fixed for how the centre was chosen and run. An official list of all affected students should be published, and students should not be out of pocket in any way. The date, time and venue of the fresh test should be declared at the earliest, and every test centre should be checked technically so that nothing similar happens again.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Rohan Survase Patil also reacted, saying the hard work and futures of students must not be sacrificed in any circumstances. In his view, Mahajyoti was created to serve social justice, and its examination process must therefore be transparent, well planned and built around the student. He said every student must get justice in the Ambegaon matter.