Key events leading to 70th BPSC exam protest

New Delhi:

The controversy surrounding the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) 70th Combined Preliminary Examination is gaining critical proportions with each passing day. Students have leveled allegations of examination irregularities, poor quality of question paper and similarities between exam questions and model papers from coaching institutes. Therefore, they are demanding the complete cancellation of the exam and re-examination.

Opposition parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, CPI (ML) and Jan Suraaj are supporting the students’ demands, criticizing the government for jeopardizing the students’ future. The BPSC dismissed these allegations as “irrational” and appealed to the students to focus on preparing for the mains exam.

Key developments so far

The controversy surrounding the BPSC 70th combined preliminary examination, which started on December 6, 2024, continues to be a topic of discussion. The advertisement for this exam was released in September 2024 and 483,000 candidates registered out of which 325,000 appeared for the exam.

The exam was conducted for 2,031 posts, including 200 SDMs, 136 DSPs and other gazetted officer posts, making it one of the largest vacancies in recent years.

The preliminary exam took place on December 13, 2024, between 12:00 and 14:00, with candidates answering 150 general knowledge questions.

Chronology of events:

December 6: Students have expressed concern over normalization, accusing the BPSC of introducing the practice. The BPSC dismissed these allegations, calling them “rumours”, saying there were no plans for normalization.

December 13: A disturbance occurred at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar (Bapu Examination Complex) in Patna, where question papers were postponed. As a result, BPSC has decided to re-exam for 12,000 candidates from this center on January 4, 2025.

December 18: Protests intensified at the Gardanibagh protest site, with students demanding a complete cancellation of the exam. The protest continues.

Alleged irregularities at other centers:

Although the BPSC has acknowledged the delay in the distribution of question papers at the Bapu Examination Complex in Patna, students are complaining of irregularities at other examination centers as well:

The Bapu examination center in Patna, built by the Bihar government in 2023, was also checked. While the Bihar government claims it is the largest exam center in the country, capable of hosting 20,000 candidates at a time, coordination between the BPSC, the Patna district administration and the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has been poor, contributing to the delay the exam.

In a press release, BPSC clarified that the Bapu Examination Complex is under the administrative control of BSEB without direct involvement of BPSC.

Allegations on the question paper:

Another significant concern raised by students is the content of the question paper. Many students noted that the questions seemed to be at the level of a police recruitment exam and closely related model papers provided by coaching institutes.

In response, BPSC Secretary Satyaprakash Sharma explained that the exam paper is set by an independent panel of experts and if the paper was simple, the cutoff would be higher, which should not be a cause for concern.

He admitted that there were some similarities with the coaching institute papers, but downplayed their significance, stating that these questions would not help the candidate clear the exam.

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)