BHUBANESWAR: The General Administration (GA) department has asked Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) to fix a time limit to supply photocopy of answer-sheet to the applicants. It has also asked the recruitment body to upload details of time limit on its Website for general information.
The direction from department came after OPSC Secretary Satyabrata Ray in a recent reply stated that no specific time limit has been fixed by the Commission for supply of answer-sheets to candidates.
The Commission’s failure to provide answer-sheet copy to applicants on time came to light after it took over a year to provide photocopy of an answer-script of Odisha Civil Services (main) Examinations 2015 to civil service candidate Rajat Kumar Mishra.
The top recruitment body of the State in its clarification to the Government has now stated that the delay in providing photocopies of answer-script to Rajat occurred due to shortage of staff and conduct of different examination, processing of results of other examinations, including Odisha Judicial Service and Odisha Forest Service.
The Commission landed in soup this year over alleged goof up in evaluation of answer-scripts after it came to light that the then Chief Examiner had reduced Rajat’s mark in essay paper in the Civil Services main exams from 117 out of 200 to a meagre 50.
The Commission in its clarification has stated that the Chief Examiner reduced the marks considering the superfluous nature of the subjective answer. Rajat, however, has alleged that his marks were altered in the essay paper and he was given less marks in interview round to keep him out of the merit list.
“The photocopy I have been provided with had no clarification as to why my score was reduced at the tabulation stage,” Rajat claims. The OPSC secretary, however, has stated that the Chief Examiner is authorised to reevaluate answer-scripts of candidates.