Pune: The Chandrapur District Central Cooperative Bank's recruitment exam for 261 clerk and 97 peon posts faced chaos on its first day due to technical failures.

The exam, which was scheduled to take place over three days across 40 centers in nine districts of Maharashtra, was canceled today after a server outage disrupted proceedings at multiple centers, including Pune.

Around 31,000 candidates had applied for the examination. Many traveled from distant districts to appear at their designated centers, only to face delays and confusion. The server issues began at Pune and a few other centers early in the day.

Despite several attempts to resolve the problem, officials from Delhi-based DCS Technologies Private Limited, which was entrusted with conducting the exam, declared the test canceled. Candidates voiced their frustration, calling the incident an unnecessary inconvenience.

The recruitment process for the Chandrapur District Central Cooperative Bank has been embroiled in controversies for years. It was halted during the state assembly elections by orders from the Cooperation Department and the Chief Minister. However, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court later lifted the stay, emphasizing that political interference in the process was unacceptable.

After the court’s decision, the bank announced the recruitment exams for December 21, 22, and 23. However, criticism arose over the decision to hold the exam at 40 centers across the state instead of restricting it to Chandrapur district.

MLA Kishor Jorgewar had demanded that the exam be limited to Chandrapur, arguing it was more appropriate given the bank's local nature. The matter added to the controversies surrounding the recruitment.