The UPPSC aspirants protesting over the exam schedule row broke the barricades on Thursday to reach the Gate. no. 2 of the commission as the demand for 'one day, one shift' intensifies. Meanwhile, the Prayagraj Police have claimed that some criminal miscreants infiltrated the students' protest and are trying to mislead them.
DCP Prayagraj, Abhishek Bharti says, "Students are protesting against the state PSC. The students are being requested to continue with their protest constitutionally and their demands will be taken to the authorities. Yesterday, public property was vandalised by anti-social elements and cases have been registered against them. They are not students but anti-social elements, with history of criminal cases. Such anti-social elements are being part of the protests and provoking the students. They are being identified and interrogated."
Meanwhile, Prayagraj CO said that the news of a female protestor being arrested was fake and circulated with malicious intentions. Notably, today marks the fourth day of the protest which began on November 11.
PCS Exam Schedule
The UPPSC announced on November 5 that the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) preliminary examination would be held in three shifts on December 22 and 23. The Provincial Civil Service (PCS) preliminary examination will be held in two shifts on December 7 and 8.
According to the schedule, the PCS prelims examination will be conducted on two days – December 7 and 8, 2024—and in two shifts: from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. The exam will be conducted in 41 districts across the state.
Why are aspirants protesting?
The aspirants are protesting against the multiple shift schedule and are demanding the RO-ARO exam be held on a single day in a single shift to ensure fairness in the examination and avoid confusion.
What did UPPSC say about protests?
UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar highlighted regulatory and logistical challenges for holding the examination in a single shift on a single day. He said, "As per the commission's guidelines, only government institutions within a 10-km radius of the district headquarters are used as examination centres. Previously, the same students were against using private institutions as exam centres due to concerns over security and paper leaks."
Kumar further added, "A total of 576,000 candidates have registered for the PCS exam, while centres are available for only 435,000 students across all the 75 districts. Under these circumstances, holding the exams over two days is unavoidable."
(With inputs from agencies)
