New Delhi: Thousands of candidates are protesting against the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission’s (UPPSC) proposal of holding the Combined State/Senior Subordinate Services (Prelims) PCS and the Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) exams in two shifts.
While PCS prelims will be held 7 and 8 December, RO/ARO exam is scheduled for 22 and 23 December.
Around 12 lakh candidates are likely to appear for this UPPSC RO/ARO exam that was supposed to have taken place on 29 January and 2 February, but got cancelled due to a paper leak. It’s now taking place in December.
In October, civil service aspirants protested outside the UPPSC office in Prayagraj and now their stir has gone online on various social media platforms such as ‘X’. More than 2 lakhs tweets were posted Tuesday in ‘X’ with the hashtags ‘#UPPCS_ROARO_ONESHIFT’ and ‘#NONORMALISATION’ in just six hours.
These candidates alleged that in February, the Commission conducted the exam in a single shift, but it had to be cancelled as the paper was leaked back then.
“The Commission wants to conduct the exam in two shifts to hide its failure. If this model is followed, then it (shifting of exam dates) will be normalised. This will lead to fluctuation in the marks of candidates appearing in these exams,” Saurbh Mishra, a civil service aspirant, told ThePrint.
“It couldn’t even conduct the exam properly in one shift. … Such a method (of holding exams in a single shift) is being followed in other exams such as SSC, CAT, or NEET PG, etc. But UPPSC doesn’t have the technical capability,” he added.
“We are planning to protest peacefully in front of the UPPSC office in Prayagraj. We demand to have this exam in one day and in one shift,” another candidate Naveen Diwedi, who has been a part of the protest, said.
Over 11 lakh applications were received for 400-450 posts for RO/ARO positions that were advertised by the UPPSC in October 2023.
On its part, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission contended that it doesn’t have enough facilities to conduct the examinations in one shift. “It is very difficult to conduct the exam for more than 11 lakhs of students in one shift as it requires more resources. So this was one way proposed by the Commission,” a source working in the UP Public Service Commission told ThePrint.
It also maintained that the format is in line with a government order issued in June which stated that any exam with more than five lakh registered candidates must be held in multiple shifts.
The work of the Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO) entails documentation, correspondence and record management in many government offices. An ARO assists in drafting reports, organising files, maintaining records, and ensuring the documentation flows in smoothly within the office. An RO supervises AROs, oversees official correspondence and verifies efficiency of government operations.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Who is the mysterious UPSC whistleblower? His truth bombs shake up coaching institutes