UPPSC exam date row: Aspirants' protest in Prayagraj enters second day

Prayagraj: The protest by aspirants against the UPPSC's decision to conduct the RO-ARO and PCS preliminary examinations on different dates entered its second day on Tuesday.

The protesters laid siege to the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) headquarters here on Monday, staging a sit-in even as a large posse of police personnel tried to disperse them.

The district magistrate and the police commissioner held a meeting late Monday which remained inconclusive.

Most of the protesters spent the night under the sky while those who had gone home returned on Tuesday morning to join the agitation at the commission's gate. The students held placards with slogans like, "We will not retreat, we will remain united until we get justice", and "One day, one exam".

On Monday evening, the protesters lit the torch on their mobile phones as a show of unity.

Meanwhile, the UPPSC on Monday said maintaining exam integrity and ensuring candidate convenience were its top priorities.

Addressing concerns raised by some candidates about the normalisation process, a Commission spokesperson stated that to uphold the sanctity of its examinations and safeguard students' futures, exams are conducted exclusively at centres where the possibility of irregularities is entirely eliminated.

The spokesperson noted that in the past, various irregularities have surfaced at the remote examination centres, creating uncertainty for the deserving students. To prevent this and ensure a merit-based examination process, such centres have now been removed, he added.

In a statement issued here, the spokesperson announced that to ensure the integrity and quality of examinations, only government or funded educational institutions located within a 10-km radius of a bus stand, railway station or treasury, and with no history of suspicion, controversy or blacklisting, are being designated as examination centres.

This arrangement has been implemented in response to the demands of candidates for maintaining exam purity and quality. To maintain the integrity and quality of examinations, it is essential to hold them in multiple shifts when there are over 5,00,000 candidates, he added.

Consequently, the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) Preliminary Examination will be conducted over two days, on December 7 and 8, while the Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO) Preliminary Examination 2023 will be held in three shifts on December 22 and 23.