BHUBANESWAR : Ruckus prevailed outside a cyber cafe, identified as an examination centre of Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC), at Nayapalli here on Monday after candidates alleged irregularities in conduct of the exam to the posts of revenue inspector (RIs), ARI, Amin, ICDS supervisors and statistical field surveyors.
Hundreds of candidates, who had gathered at the cyber cafe to appear for the examination in the third slot, alleged that the test was delayed by several hours and there was no security at the centre.
Nearly five lakh candidates from across the state are taking the exam which began on September 20 and will continue till October 8. The computer-based test (CBT) is being carried out in three slots every day - 9.30 am to 11 am, 12.30 pm to 2 pm and 3.30 pm to 5 pm. A private agency has been roped in to select the examination centres and conduct the test.
On the day, when the third slot candidates arrived at the examination centre at their reporting time of 1.30 pm, they were reportedly told that exam of the previous slots had started late due to server issues as a result of which their test would start after 5 pm.
“The third party agency selected to conduct the examination was earlier blacklisted and its employees arrested by CBI for paper leak in New Delhi in 2018. Here, it chose a cyber cafe as an examination centre where there is neither proper security nor internet connection,” alleged Ramakrushna Sethi, a candidate.
The candidates were reportedly allowed to enter the examination centre after 5.30 pm when the third slot test in other centres was over. Alleging that there were chances of candidates knowing about the questions by speaking to their counterparts from other centres who had completed the tests, the aspirants demanded a ban on the centre and re-conduct of the examination.
OSSSC chairman Saswat Mishra, however, said there is no chance of the questions getting leaked. He said the examinations are being held as per the standard operating procedures laid out by the National Testing Agency.
“Since this is a CBT, there are little chances of any paper leak. Had that been the case, candidates appearing the exam now could have known about the questions from their counterparts who took the test since September 20,” he said.
On the server issue, Mishra said it needs to be inquired if the problem was due to negligence of the agency or network service provider. “The third party agency was roped in to conduct the examination not by OSSSC but by OCAC,” he added.