LUCKNOW: Amid massive protests by thousands of students in Prayagraj since Monday, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has initiated preparations for the PCS (Preliminary) Examination 2024, scheduled for 7 and 8 December.
The protests erupted on Monday and continued unabated on Tuesday, with students rallying against UPPSC's decision to conduct the preliminary examinations for PCS and RO/ARO over two days and in two shifts.
Protestors have been staging a demonstration at the commission's headquarters in Prayagraj, demanding that the examination be conducted in a single day and that the normalisation formula used to assess answer sheets be revoked.
UPPSC had announced on 5 November that the PCS (Prelims) examination for 2024 would take place across 41 districts on 7 and 8 December, with two shifts scheduled from 9:30 am to 11:30 am and from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
Furthermore, the Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO) Preliminary Examination 2023 is set for 22 and 23 December and will also be conducted in two shifts across various districts of the state.
The commission has implemented a normalisation formula, applicable solely in instances where exams are conducted over multiple days. When exams are spread across different dates, the question papers vary, and there is a possibility that some versions of the paper may be more challenging than others. To address this potential discrepancy, the normalisation process is applied.
However, protestors argue that multi-day, multi-shift exams could increase the risk of leaks and believe that the normalisation process could adversely affect their results.
The protests have drawn support from the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) — the student wing of the Congress Party, as well as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP.
Late on Monday night, UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar, Prayagraj District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar, Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, and Police Commissioner Tarun Gauba met with the protesting students, attempting to reassure them that the changes to the examination pattern were made with their best interests in mind.
However, the students remained resolute in their demands. The District Magistrate met with the protestors again on Tuesday in an effort to defuse the situation, but with no success.
In a press release, UPPSC stated that "the purity of examinations and the convenience of aspirants" were its top priorities. The commission further emphasised that to safeguard the integrity of its examinations and the future of students, tests are being held only at centres where there is "no possibility of any kind of irregularities."