Denying his department’s role in the recruitment exam controversy, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope announced on Monday that the test for Group ‘C’ will be held on October 24, and Group ‘D’ candidates will take the exam on October 31.

The exams that were to be held on September 25 and 26 were postponed at the eleventh hour last Friday. The government said the outsourced company could not make all preparations, and Tope had tendered an apology to the candidates for the inconvenience caused. The postponement led to outburst from the candidates and the opposition parties that accused the government of hiring blacklisted private companies for the job. It was also alleged that middlemen have been promising jobs in exchange for money. Some eight lakh candidates had applied for 6,200 posts in Group ‘C’ and 'D’.