New Delhi: The process of verification of candidates selected in the UPPSC Civil Judge 2018 exam is still going on, but they’re now facing a peculiar kind of problem. A list titled ‘Unmarried PCS J 2018’ has gone viral on social media, revealing personal details of 497 out of the 610 selected candidates.
The details revealed include each unmarried candidate’s name, father’s name, date of birth, caste, residential address and mobile number. This has led to a social media uproar from the candidates and others about the invasion of their privacy, while women candidates have alleged “harassment”.
ThePrint spoke to at least 25 candidates named in the list, and found that the information was accurate. Most say their phones haven’t stopped ringing with marriage proposals. They shared their experiences on the condition of anonymity.
Serious mental harassment
“This list went viral on 23 August. That morning, one of my friends said she received five calls. I am also getting such calls. Initially I responded to four or five messages, but now I have stopped answering,” said a woman candidate from Bijnor.
“Most of the callers want to confirm the surname and caste. One boy said he wanted to add me to a Jat family group.”
Another woman candidate said: “Initially, I thought this list is being circulated on an official level, because such detailed personal information can only be found in the application form filled by us. Even the UPPSC website only published our names and roll numbers.
“We are facing serious mental harassment. Some judges from senior batches are also trying to contact us through our family members.”
It isn’t just women candidates who are getting “harassed”. Some men have also received as many as 20 calls while others have received five calls.
Some have called the families to enquire about the candidates’ height and skin tone, and even about dowry. One woman candidate said: “My parents refused to entertain the demand of dowry, but then they were told that ‘your daughter is 28 years old with a dark complexion, so you should prudently grab the opportunity to get her married’.”
‘Nothing wrong with it’
A senior official involved with the examination and selection process told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that such lists are circulated every year.
“It contains nothing that can be called personal detail. It might be good for some people who can now get married easily. Every year, people come to us with a request for details of unmarried selected candidates. This has now almost become a tradition and there is nothing wrong with it too,” the official said.
However, UPPSC deputy secretary Satya Prakash said: “None of the candidates from either batch has complained to us till now. We can’t take any action until we receive any complaint.”
Also read: CBI to probe nepotism allegations in UPPSC selections during Mayawati rule in 2010
Another exam, another list
In 2016, the UPPSC had conducted another exam for posts such as deputy collector, naib tehsildar, DSP, revenue tax officer etc. The results were only announced in January 2019, but soon after, a list of 460 unmarried candidates had started circulating on WhatsApp. This list was called ‘PCL 2016’, and featured similar details to the judges’ list.
One of the candidates included in the PCL 2016 list, who comes from Ballia, said: “At least 10 families have visited my house till now, and I have also received around 10-12 calls with marriage proposals. When I came to know about such a list being circulated, I stopped receiving calls from unknown numbers. Now, I will think about marriage only after joining.”