UPPSC exam date row: 'One day, one exam' demand students as protest enters third day

PRAYAGRAJ: "One day, one exam" read the placards as students protested for the third consecutive day on Wednesday against the decision to conduct the RO-ARO and PCS preliminary examinations over two days. The aspirants took out candle march in the evening over their demands.

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has scheduled the Provincial Civil Service Preliminary Examination for December 7 and 8. The Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer Preliminary Examinations are set for December 22 and 23. Demanding a rollback to the earlier practice of holding the tests on a single day, the students said they would not buckle down until their demand is met.

Although the number of protesters was smaller compared to the previous two days, the students were firm on their stance. We will continue the agitation for one day, one exam, said Pratyush Singh, one of the protesting students outside the UPPSC office. One placard read, "We will not divide, we will not retreat, we will remain united until we get justice", another said, "One day, One examination".

Gyanendra Kumar, a student, said, "Until our demands are met, we will continue the protest, whether it lasts for a week or many weeks. We are taking out a candle march against the adamant attitude of the commission."

UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar told PTI on Tuesday that it was the commission's policy to designate only government educational institutions as examination centres, with each centre located within a 10-km radius of the district headquarters. Previously, when a paper was leaked, these same students demanded that private institutions should not be used as examination centres, Kumar said.

Now, when the government has implemented guidelines based on their earlier demand, they are protesting against it. He added that out of 5,76,000 candidates registered for the PCS examination, examination centres are only available for 4,35,000 candidates across all 75 districts. "Given this situation, it is necessary to conduct the examination over two days," Kumar said.