New Delhi: More than 1,000 students and teachers gathered near the office of the Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT) in New Delhi Thursday in a bid to meet Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, and request a dialogue about examination issues.
They were protesting against irregularities in the computer-based Selection Post Phase 13 exams being conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) to recruit candidates for various posts. The exams began on 24 July and are scheduled to conclude on 1 August.
Speaking to ThePrint, they alleged that, for the exams, they got poor quality pen and paper, old computers, malfunctioning mouses and exam centres in remote areas with unprofessional staff. Some centres, they said, even had loud music playing nearby on DJ, making it difficult for them to focus.
“We need pen and paper to solve maths questions, but the ones given were so bad that we couldn’t write properly. The paper was very thin, and my computer didn’t work,” said Monu Gulia, an aspirant protesting in Delhi.
The protests were also fuelled by exam cancellation at many centres without notice, administrative chaos, technical glitches, complaints of poor infrastructure, and alleged mistreatment of candidates by invigilators.
“The students and teachers are raising the issues they faced during the Selection Post Phase-13 exams, which took place from 24 July to 1 August. There was misconduct at exam centres, technical glitches, login failures and auto-submissions. Many aspirants also faced power cuts and server crashes, with no backup systems in place,” said Ronak Khatri, president, Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU).
Many popular teachers stood in solidarity with the protesting students; all spoke of poor infrastructure at many exam venues.
“The rooms were tiny, basic facilities like water and toilets weren’t available. Invigilators were using phones and making reels. Many students were forced to sit in the exam hall till 10 pm, and there was no support for raising complaints,” said Mohit Tiwari, another aspirant part of the protest.
The protesters have also taken issue with the award of tender to conduct the exam to Eduquity Career Technologies.
“TCS had been conducting the SSC exams for the last few years, but this time Eduquity got the tender because it bid the lowest amount. To save money, the commission gave the contract to them and played with our future,” alleged Khatri.
Social media is flooded with posts under the hashtag #SSC_System_Sudharo, criticising the mismanagement of the exam. Photos and videos show students gathered outside the SSC office in Delhi, demanding to meet the chairman.
Police allegedly carried out a lathi-charge at the protesters and loaded many onto buses, deboarding them far away from the protest site.
“The students were protesting peacefully, but the police initiated a lathi-charge and detained teachers and female students as well. Many were injured,” said Khatri.
The students and teachers had also converged at Jantar Mantar under a ‘Delhi Chalo’ call to demand reform in the exam process.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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