Amaravati, Sep 20 (IANS): Examination for jobs in Andhra Pradesh village secretariats is currently underway, with thousands of aspirants turning up for the exam on Sunday.

The village secretariat exams are scheduled from Sunday to Saturday, with two exams a day for 19 categories.

As many as 2,221 examination centres have been arranged, following coronavirus prevention guidelines.

In case a candidate did not have a mask, they were provided with one.

Likewise, the government has arranged separate examination rooms for candidates infected with the coronavirus.

Covid positive candidates were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE), including invigilators monitoring those candidates.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy visited an examination centre at Balaji Colony in Tirupati.

Reddy said the government is taking the village secretariat initiative as a very prestigious issue.

In Vizianagaram district, 88 centres have been arranged for the examination. District Collector M. Harijawahar Lal visited a few of them.

In the north coastal Andhra district, as many as 16,039 candidates appeared for the exam, though more than 20,000 applied.