Bihar Public Service Commission Secretary’s statement is completely misleading and deceives the public

The agitation of students is going on regarding the serious allegations made in the 70th preliminary examination of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). The students demand that the re-examination should be conducted. Regarding this matter, BPSC Secretary Satya Prakash Sharma has put forth his side in an interview given to the ABP News channel, which is completely misleading and deceives the public. Let us see in the light of facts what is the truth.

First of all, there is a need to understand what is the main subject of the controversy. Before the proposed examination on 13 December 2024, a letter sent by BPSC to the District Magistrates went viral on social media, in which the paper was mentioned in three different sets. The students alleged that if different sets have been prepared, then normalization will have to be done. Regarding this, the students agitated on 6 December. After the agitation, BPSC issued a release and clarified that there is only one set of paper; that is, only the series will be different, and in such a situation, the question of normalization does not arise.

Actually, the main controversy in this entire episode is about normalization. Common people can understand it simply: if an examination is conducted in several shifts and papers are prepared in different sets for it, then the level of the paper of each shift will also be different. The actual marks obtained by the students of each shift are changed on the basis of the average of their marks, etc. This is called standardization or normalization. The statistical method for this has not been made public by any commission till now, whereas they claim that their method is scientific and transparent. In such a situation, refusing to make the formula used for this public creates deep doubts. There have been many serious allegations of irregularities in normalization in the examinations of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission and the Railway Recruitment Board. This was also the main topic of the students’ agitation in the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission in the month of November. The state of secrecy is such that the actual marks of the students and the marks after normalization are not made public, due to which many allegations of irregularities have been made under its guise. In this background, there is anger among the students regarding the controversy surrounding the BPSC 70th preliminary examination.

The BPSC Secretary says that normalization will not be required after the re-examination of the students of the Bapu Examination Center. How is this possible? He himself has admitted that scaling will be used for the students of the Bapu Examination Center. Scaling is used in the context of different subjects of the same examination. In such a situation, even if their number is less for the examination of a different shift of a subject, normalization will have to be done. Therefore, his claim that normalization is not an issue for the re-examination conducted for 12 thousand students of the Bapu Examination Center is completely unfair and an attempt to cover up the reality of the whole matter.

The BPSC Secretary said in the interview that the entire examination system works well, and the Commission has not received any report of irregularities from the DM or any source except the Bapu Examination Center. Does the system work so well that every small or big irregularity is reported? Is it not true that such cases are taken cognizance of only when there is a lot of public pressure? If the students had not created a ruckus at the Bapu Examination Center and the DM slapping a student had not become a big issue, would the examination have been canceled so easily? There are countless examples in this regard.

A recent example is the agitation of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, in which the Public Service Commission and the government were outright denying the paper leak and were adamant about conducting the examinations in several shifts. However, only after the massive agitation of the students, not only were the paper leak and rigging accepted, but the PCS preliminary examination was conducted in one shift.

The BPSC Secretary is talking about a better examination system, and he is also expressing his unwavering faith in it. However, the papers reach the examination center half an hour late, the number of papers is insufficient, and in such a situation, when papers are ordered from outside for any examination center, the bundle is found open. The biggest question is that if such a good system is working, at what level did such gross negligence happen? Was anyone held accountable in such serious cases, and was he punished? There is no information about this so far, nor was any information given by them. Actually, everyone knows how the system works.

The BPSC Secretary said that if, due to some reasons, the paper is received late in the examination, then it is automatically implied that the candidates will get that much extra time. But he did not clarify whether this is a policy matter of the Commission. In cases of delays in the examination, is it recorded how late the examination started and whether that much extra time was given? Generally, there have always been such complaints, and there is truth in them, that even if the examination starts late, it is not compensated. It is completely wrong and misleading for the BPSC Secretary to call the allegations of the students imaginary and beyond facts. In fact, the purpose of this is to ignore the legitimate demands of the students, so that by diverting the discussion from the question of normalization, the entire matter can be presented as if the allegations against BPSC are baseless. Whereas it is self-evident from the above facts that the demand of the students for re-examination is justified.

The students also need to understand the purpose of the controversies that have emerged regarding the selection process. Everyone knows that whether it is Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, or other states and central departments, a large number of posts are lying vacant in government departments. There is no meaningful effort to fill them; rather, the recruitments that have been advertised are also being entangled in these controversies and judicial processes for years. As a result, thousands of cases are pending.

There are about five lakh vacant posts in government departments in Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh, lakhs of created posts have been abolished; even after this, it is estimated that more than 6 lakh posts are vacant. There are 10 lakh vacancies for central government employees. Such a large number of vacancies exist, but the BJP governments are engaging in propaganda about providing government jobs in mission mode. It is estimated that there are one crore vacancies in government departments in the country. Filling these vacancies immediately is also a major issue of the Employment Rights Campaign.

We believe that disputes related to the selection process can be resolved easily. First of all, the government has a large infrastructure. When One Nation One Election is being advocated, conducting an examination in one shift is not at all a difficult task. If there is a large number of candidates and it becomes necessary to conduct examinations in multiple shifts, then the concerned commission is responsible for establishing coordination among the experts preparing the paper so that there is no unnecessary disparity in the level of the paper. In such a situation, even if normalization is necessary, a fixed statistical formula can be used, created by a panel of experts and standardized throughout the country. It should be made public, students should be taken into confidence, and transparency should be guaranteed.

The JDU-BJP government in Bihar is completely engaged in repression and creating an atmosphere of terror. Three times, brutal lathi charges were carried out on BPSC candidates, and on 29 December, in this extreme cold, students were attacked with water cannons. Cases have been registered against hundreds of protesters. However, the Chief Minister is not even finding time to meet the students to discuss re-conducting the examination and finding a reasonable solution to their concerns.

Today, in this era of a deepening employment crisis, the government’s aim is neither to create employment nor to fill the vacant posts in government departments. Their real aim is to get the vacant posts filled through outsourcing or contracts at a very low salary scale. These issues can be resolved provided a proper economic policy is formulated. In such a situation, the youth should view their concerns holistically within the movement taking place regarding disputes related to the selection process. Students are sitting on dharna in extreme cold and extremely adverse conditions, and their legitimate demands are not being heard. Actions like lathi charges have been taken, which are absolutely wrong. Rojgar Adhikar Abhiyan demands that the Bihar government talk to the students and resolve their problems.

Rajesh Sachan, On behalf of Employment Rights Campaign