The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission on Friday announced that the Provincial Civil Service preliminary exam has been rescheduled to a single day on December 22.
This came after four days of widespread protests in Prayagraj, where thousands of candidates rallied against the commission’s announcement that the Provincial Civil Service examination as well as the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer examinations would be conducted on two days in two shifts.
The commission is responsible for recruiting candidates for various government jobs
The Provincial Civil Service exam was originally planned for December 7 and December 8 in two shifts. The Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer examination, scheduled for December 22 and December 23 in three shifts, has also been postponed, with a new date to be determined.
On Friday, a statement issued by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission Deputy Secretary Onkar Nath Singh said that the Provincial Civil Service exam will be held in two shifts on December 22.
“The examination will now be conducted in a single day rather than over two days, as originally planned for December 7 and 8,” the statement said. “The revised exam will take place on December 22 in two shifts, from 9.30 am to 11.30 am and 2.30 pm to 4:30 pm.”
Following the announcement, the protests in Prayagraj outside the commission’s office came to a halt.
“The protest has ended,” Civil Lines Assistant Commissioner of Police Shyamjeet Pramila Singh said, The Hindu reported. “No one is present at the site. The last group of protestors numbered 10-15 have also left late evening.”
A candidate named Avinash Singh said that the students ended the protests as the commission had agreed to their major demands. “We will wait for the committee recommendation on RO/ARO [Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer] exam,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
The protests, which began on November 11 and saw the participation of around 10,000 aspirants from across the state, highlighted concerns that different question paper sets for multiple shifts could have varying levels of difficulty. Some protestors also argued that conducting the exams in multiple shifts on multiple days increased the chances of paper leaks.
On Thursday, some protesters clashed with police, breaking through barricades outside the commission’s headquarters. The Times of India reported that officers used force to disperse the crowd.
“We were lathi-charged here,” a student named Pravesh Kumar said. “Even a disabled student was manhandled by the police here. This is how the administration is treating the students here, even the students with disabilities.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Bharti, however, claimed that certain individuals with criminal histories were instigating the crowd and confirmed that cases were registered against those who vandalised public property. “Two have already been arrested,” he said. “More of them are being identified and interrogated.”
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