UPPSC concedes amid student’s protest, agrees to conduct PCS exam in single shift, postpones RO/ARO paper

Some aspirants who were protesting said they will continue the agitation till a decision of conducting the RO and ARO exam in single shift is announced

After four days of protest by aspirants, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) on Thursday (November 14, 2024) agreed to conduct the Provincial Civil Services (preliminary) Examination in a single day based on the old pattern.

However, on a similar demand about the exams of Review Officer (RO)/Assistant Review Officer (ARO), the Commission while postponing the examination, declared about forming a committee to look into the demands and submit its report soon.

“On the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the UPPSC decided to postpone the RO and ARO exams and hold the PCS preliminary exam on the old pattern,” said Public Service Commission Secretary Ashok Kumar outside the UPPSC office in Prayagraj.

“Acknowledging concerns of students, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the UPPSC to engage in dialogue with the students and take appropriate action. Following this, the commission, under the Chief Minister’s guidance, decided to hold the PCS Preliminary Examination 2024 on a single day, as done previously. On the initiative of the Chief Minister, UPPSC has postponed the Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO) Examination-2023 and constituted a committee to ensure transparency and fairness. This committee will study all aspects in depth and submit its detailed report soon so that the purity and credibility of these examinations can be ensured,” reads a statement from the U.P. government.

Some aspirants who were protesting said they will continue the agitation till a decision of conducting the RO and ARO exam in single shift is announced.

“The government must also announce single shift for the RO/ARO exam, the partial decision is not satisfying for us,” said Avinash Singh, an aspirant.

Protesting aspirants have continuously demanded both the PCS (Preliminary) and RO/ARO (preliminary) examinations to be conducted in a single shift. Earlier, the Civil Services (preliminary) examination was scheduled to be conducted over two days, on December 7 and 8, while the RO/ARO (preliminary) examination 2023 was announced in two shifts on December 22 and 23, 2024.

The Opposition also lashed out at the ruling BJP for only announcing the PCS (preliminary) examination single shift demand, adding why can the declaration not be made on RO/ARO single shift.

“As soon as the BJP government understood the electoral mathematics and saw its defeat in front of it, it backed off but its arrogance has come in the way, that is why it is accepting only half the demand. The candidates will win. These are today’s intelligent youth, the government cannot fool them.”

When one exam can be conducted then why not the other. Defeat in elections is the real solution against the BJP,” wrote the Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on X.

The Congress described the decision as divide and rule policy of the ruling BJP. “It’s a divide and rule tactics, as the Commission accepted single shift demand on only the preliminary exam of Civil Services, while no such assurance is done on RO/ARO. Such tactics will not work in front of student’s power, the youths are united for a total rollback on double shift and normalization both in Provincial Civil Services (prelims) and RO/ARO exam,” said Anil Yadav, General Secretary U.P. Congress.

Published - November 14, 2024 05:37 pm IST