UPPSC exam date row: Aspirants' protest in Prayagraj enters second day

NEW DELHI: Government job aspirants in Prayagraj on Tuesday continued their protest against the UPPSC's decision to conduct the RO-ARO and PCS preliminary examinations on two different dates, demanding a rollback to the earlier practice of holding the tests on a single day. On November 5, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) announced to hold the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) preliminary examination in three shifts on December 22 and 23, and the Provincial Civil Service (PCS) preliminary examination in two shifts on December 7 and 8, drawing large-scale criticism from the aspirants.

The protesters laid siege to the UPPSC headquarters on Monday by staging a sit-in even as a large posse of police personnel tried to disperse them. While the district magistrate and the police commissioner held a meeting late on Monday, it remained inconclusive, sources said. Most of the protesters, including women, spent the night under the open sky while those who had gone home returned on Tuesday morning to join the agitation at the commission's gate. The students were seen holding placards with slogans like, "We will not retreat, we will remain united until we get justice", and "One day, one exam".

UPPSC secretary addresses concerns

On Tuesday, the agitators were seen beating drums while carrying an effigy of UPPSC Chairman Sanjay Shrinet, raising slogans against him. "UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar came out twice to reason with the students who remained firm on their demand for 'one day, one exam'," Ganesh Singh, one of the protesters, said. "If the Union Public Service Commission can conduct exams on a single day, why can't the UPPSC do the same," he asked.

Speaking to PTI, UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar said, "As per the commission's guidelines, only government institutions within a 10-km radius of the district headquarters are used as examination centres. Previously, the same students were against using private institutions as exam centres due to concerns over security and paper leaks." Underlining the logistical challenges, Kumar said, "A total of 576,000 candidates have registered for the PCS exam, while centres are available for only 435,000 students across all the 75 districts. Under these circumstances, holding the exams over two days is unavoidable."

ABVP demands resolution of issues

Meanhwhile, RSS' student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said in a statement that in light of the concerns raised by the aspirants, the UPPSC should take prompt steps to address their issues. "The ABVP demands the UPPSC to promptly resolve the students' concerns. The integrity and transparency of the exams must not be compromised, and all the issues regarding centre allocation and normalisation must be addressed with utmost seriousness," ABVP national secretary Ankit Shukla said in a statement.

Echoing Shukla's views, Abhay Pratap Singh, secretary, ABVP Kashi region, said the commission should increase the number of districts where the exams will be conducted. On Monday, the UPPSC said maintaining the integrity of exams and ensuring candidates' convenience were its top priorities. On the concerns raised by some of the candidates about the normalisation process, a UPPSC spokesperson said that to safeguard the students' future, exams are being conducted exclusively at centres where the possibility of irregularities is entirely eliminated.

Multiple shifts for large candidate pool

The spokesperson also claimed that various irregularities surfaced at the remote exam centres in the past, creating uncertainty for the deserving students. To prevent this and to ensure a merit-based exam process, such centres have now been removed from the list, he added. In a statement issued here, the spokesperson said that to ensure the integrity and quality of exams, only government or funded educational institutions located within a 10-km radius of a bus stand, railway station or treasury, and with no history of suspicion, controversy or blacklisting, are being designated as examination centres.

This arrangement has been implemented in response to the demands of the candidates for maintaining exam purity and quality, the statement said. To maintain the integrity and quality of exams, it is essential to hold them in multiple shifts, especially when there are over 5,00,000 candidates, it added.