On Monday (11th November), thousands of students demonstrated outside the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) Gate number 2 in Prayagraj, asking that the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) preliminary examinations, as well as the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) examinations, be held in one shift. They carried posters and chanted slogans opposing normalisation.
Students began congregating at the UPPSC early in the morning, and by midday, thousands of aspirants including women had marched in the direction of UPPSC Gate No. 2.
The protest against the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) was a week after multiple shifts for a single exam were scheduled. Notably, the RO-ARO preliminary exams will take place in three shifts on December 22 and 23, while the UPPCS PCS preliminary exams will be held in two shifts on 7 and 8 December.
Lakhs of students are expected to take the UPPSC RO/ARO exam, which was originally scheduled for the 29th of January and 2nd of February but was cancelled due to a paper leak and was thus and will now take place in December. Notably, back then, the exam was conducted in a single shift. As per a TOI report, around 16.52 lakh candidates have registered for the coming RO/ARO exam.
What are the demands of the protesting aspirants?
Before the RO/ARO exam, the Provincial Civil Service (PCS) preliminary examination will be conducted on 7th and 8th December. The protesting candidates are demanding that the RO/ARO preliminary exam date be changed. According to the candidates, scheduling both examinations in the same month will have an impact on their preparation. Thus, the commission should change the date of the RO/ARO exam. The aspirants say that this is the first time that the UPPSC is conducting two major examinations in the same month.
VIDEO | UPPSC PCS Preliminary Exam 2024: Aspirants continue their protest outside the UPPCS headquarters in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 12, 2024
(Full video available on PTI videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/BLjNLixN1b
“Our main demand is that PCS and RO/ARO examinations should be conducted on the same day in a single shift. We suspect that if this examination is held on different days, there may be a lack of transparency in the paper, and the possibility of rigging may increase. We believe that conducting the examination on the same day will ensure fairness and equal opportunity,” a protesting student from Mirzapur told TheHindu.
Another protestor said, “We are protesting to express our disagreement with the new rules. We’re waiting for the UPPSC chairman to come and talk with us on the recent changes made for the examination.”
#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Aspirants in Prayagraj continue their protest outside the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) office. They are demanding that the PCS and RO/ARO exams be conducted in one day and one shift.
— ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2024
Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police personnel present… pic.twitter.com/uzaXh74C9D
Aspirants in Prayagraj continue their protest outside the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) office on Tuesday (12th November) as well. They are demanding that the PCS and RO/ARO exams be conducted in one day and one shift. Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police personnel were present at the spot.
Our history grows in the shadow of struggles
— Akki Sehra (@Akkisehra) November 11, 2024
The world moves in the direction in which youth moves…🔥🔥
This is a flood of candidates, whose dreams the commission and the government are trying to crush✊#uppscaspirants #UPPSC_No_Normalization #uppsc2024… pic.twitter.com/epBFCeaBSU
Notably, many aspirants are also opposing the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC)’s normalisation policy. It must be noted that UPSC normalises marks acquired in subjects such as mathematics to ensure parity among candidates who chose different subjects. The UPPSC claimed that they plan to apply this approach to exams taken on different days, with scores calculated using a percentile system. However, students say that this procedure is complex and may not be fair, particularly when exam difficulty varies drastically.
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: Candidates protested opposing the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC)'s normalisation policy, leading authorities to turn the area outside the Commission’s office into a fortified zone. Along with the police force, the Rapid Action Force… pic.twitter.com/xIECsuVO9c
— IANS (@ians_india) November 12, 2024
UPPSC responds to criticism over multiple shifts and normalisation policy
Meanwhile, a UPPSC spokesperson issued a statement earlier saying that in order to “ensure the integrity and quality” of examinations, only government or government-funded educational institutes located within a 10-kilometre radius of a bus stop, railway station, or treasury, and with no history of suspicion, controversy, or blacklisting, would be designated as examination centres. This arrangement was created in response to candidates’ requests for “maintaining exam purity and quality,” the statement reads adding that it is “essential to hold exams in multiple shifts” since there are over 500,000 candidates.
The Commission’s spokesperson also added that when exams are held over multiple days or shifts for a single advertisement, the “normalisation process is essential for evaluating the results.” The method is widely used by reputed recruitment boards and commissions across the country, and it is upheld by numerous court decisions. The Supreme Court-appointed Radhakrishnan Committee for the NEET exam also recommended that the exam be conducted in two shifts, as was the police recruitment examination.
Amidst the widespread protests and social media outrage, UPPSC issued another statement assuring the aspirants that the concerns raised by them as well that rules in this regard will be taken care of in the normalisation process. Furthermore, the Commission said that any candidate who wants to give their suggestions in this regard write the same to the Commission. UPPSC said that these student suggestions will be placed before the experts and whatever changes will be made will be done as per the rules.
“In the context of normalisation, the Commission welcomes suggestions from candidates. Anyone with recommendations for improvement or a better system is encouraged to submit them. These suggestions will be reviewed by a committee of eminent experts, ensuring that the necessary purity and quality, in the best interest of the candidates, would be upheld,” UPPSC said.
Politicisation of student protests begins
Mocking the UPPSC’s normalisation policy, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav decided to score political points against the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party government. “Will BJP apply the normalization formula even in the elections being held on different days? Parents today say, we don’t want BJP! when bjp will go then the job will come,” Yadav posted on X. The Samajwadi Party leader has been regularly publishing posts accusing the BJP of being “anti-youth”.
क्या अलग-अलग दिन हो रहे चुनावों में भी भाजपा नॉर्मलाइज़ेशन का फ़ार्मूला लगाएगी।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 12, 2024
अभिभावक कहे आज का, नहीं चाहिए भाजपा!
जब भाजपा जाएगी
तब नौकरी आएगी#uppsc#uppcs2024#no_normalization#ro_aro_onedayexam#uppsc_oneshift_onedayexam#UPPCS_ROARO_ONESHIFT pic.twitter.com/An14k5n7cr
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also attacked the Uttar Pradesh government and said: “It is unfortunate that lathi charge was done on the students protesting for their demands in Prayagraj. The students raising their voice against the arbitrariness of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission should be listened to carefully. This is not the first time that the BJP is trying to suppress the voice of the youth in this way. Earlier too, attempts have been made to suppress their voice when they demanded jobs or protested against recruitment scams and paper leaks. Understanding these problems of the youth, the Congress Party had talked about taking concrete initiatives under the Youth Justice Guarantee. Under this, we had made 5 promises including the guarantee of immediate permanent appointment on 30 lakh government posts, freedom from paper leaks and timely recruitment through the job calendar.”
प्रयागराज में अपनी मांगों को लेकर प्रदर्शन कर रहे छात्रों पर लाठी चार्ज किया जाना दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है। उत्तर प्रदेश पब्लिक सर्विस कमिशन की मनमानी के ख़िलाफ़ आवाज़ उठा रहे छात्रों की बातों को ध्यान से सुना जाना चाहिए।
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 12, 2024
यह पहला मौका नहीं है जब भाजपा युवाओं की आवाज़ को इस तरह से दबाने…
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya directed the UPPSC officials to quickly address the concerns raised by the protesting students, emphasising that students should be able to spend their precious time on preparation instead of agitation.
यूपी पीसीएस परीक्षा में एक से अधिक दिन की परीक्षा, निजी संस्थानों को केंद्र न बनाने और मानकीकरण प्रक्रिया को लेकर छात्रों की चिंताएं गंभीर और महत्वपूर्ण हैं। छात्रों की मांग है कि परीक्षाएं पूरी तरह निष्पक्ष और पारदर्शी हों, ताकि उनकी मेहनत का सम्मान हो और भविष्य सुरक्षित रहे।…
— Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) November 12, 2024
“The concerns of the students regarding more than one-day examination in UP PCS exam, not making private institutions centres and standardization process are serious and important. The students demand that the examinations should be completely fair and transparent, so that their hard work is respected and their future is secure. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji, the BJP government has set an example of fair recruitment process by taking strict action against the recruitment mafia since 2017. The government has shown its strong will by giving appointment letters to about 7 lakh youth. All competent officials should listen to the demands of the students sensitively and find a quick solution. Ensure that the precious time of the students is not spent in agitation but in their preparation. The pending cases in the court should also be resolved quickly so that the future of any student does not remain in the dark,” the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said.
