UPPSC aspirants continue protests for 'one day, one shift’ exam

NEW DELHI: Thousands of UPPSC aspirants are protesting outside the UPPSC headquarters against the commission’s decision to conduct the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) and Review Officer-Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) preliminary exams on different dates and in multiple shifts and against the normalisation scores.

However, UPSC responds that when exams are held on multiple shifts or days, the normalisation score process is essential to evaluate the results and ensure fairness for all participants.

The Civil Services exam is set to be held for two days, on December 7 and 8, while the RO, ARO exam 2023 will be held in three shifts on December 22 and 23, 2024.

The exam schedule has raged students and drawn large-scale criticism, who are now protesting, and doing candle marches against the commission’s decision.

In response to the student protests in Prayagraj, police teams were deployed and barricades were put up. As the protest intensified, students broke through a few barricades in an attempt to enter the UPPSC campus. The policemen deployed in and around the UPPSC office tried to stop the students from reaching the campus’s Gate Number 2, but some among the large crowd made their way through, raising slogans against the commission.

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UPPSC: What about normalisation score?

As per the commission statement, it is essential to hold exams in multiple shifts when there are so many candidates appearing for the exam. The approach is used by several recruitment bodies and commissions across the country only to maintain transparency in exam results.

Addressing concerns raised by students about the normalisation score process, a Commission spokesperson said it a crucial to uphold the sanctity of its exam and safeguard students’ futures, while ensuring exam irregularities are eliminated.

“A protestor Anshuman Pandey says, “We are going nowhere till the UPPSC withdraws the decision of multiple shifts and normalisation,” The Hindu quotes.

UPPSC: Aspirants losing faith

Stating past failures, aspirants say they don’t trust the system due to a lack of regularity and transparency.

Another aspirant from Prayagraj says, “The PSC prelims exam was to be held in March 2024, got postponed to December 2024. Apart from this, the RO/ARO examination paper was leaked in February 2024 and subsequently got cancelled. After that the date kept getting postponed before finally settling in December 2024. In such a situation, how could we trust the Commission’s decision to bring changes in format. In a single-shift examination, chances of paper leak are very low. He further adds, the protest will transform into a massive indefinite movement if demands are not accepted,” The Hindu quotes.