RO/ARO, PCS prelim exam row: Students defy barricades, march to UPPSC HQ in Prayagraj
Students protest against normalisation and the decision to conduct two key examinations in two shifts in two days.
PRAYAGRAJ Thousands of students, including women aspirants, defied barricades and heavy police arrangements, as they marched to Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) headquarters in Prayagraj where they staged a protest against normalisation and the decision to conduct two key examinations in two shifts in two days.
These tests are the RO/ARO (Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer)-Examination 2023 and Uttar Pradesh Combined State/ Upper Subordinate Services Examination, PCS (preliminary) examination-2024.
Police allegedly used mild force to disperse students, but they reassembled and continued the protests while demanding to conduct the examinations in one shift in a single day.
The UPPSC had issued a notification on November 5, stating it will conduct the RO/ARO examination in three shifts on December 22 and 23, and the PCS preliminary examination in two shifts on December 7 and 8.
Since then, the aspirants of both examinations have launched a massive social media campaign against conducting the examinations in two days and in different shifts.
The aspirants were asked to assemble in large numbers at the UPPSC headquarters on November 11 to protest against the normalization and new pattern of examination.
Following a massive campaign, the students from other districts and even from the adjoining states of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar also joined the protests.
Police were on alert over the proposed protests and had planned to stop students from reaching the UPPSC in large numbers. Barricades were installed at the entry routes towards UPPSC and traffic diversions were enforced. However, students started assembling around UPPSC at 10 am. By 11 am, the number of students swelled, and they marched towards the UPPSC.
The police and Rapid Action Force personnel tried to stop the students at the barricades at Gate Number 2 of UPPSC. However, the students broke the barricading and made their way through. Police used mild force and tried to chase away the students, but they soon reassembled. Raising slogans and holding placards,the students sat on a protest outside Gate Number 2.
By late afternoon, around 10,000 students assembled outside UPPSC with the demand to conduct the examinations in a single day.
DCP City Abhishek Bharti denied using force on students and said that they were protesting peacefully. The students are being pacified and their demands will be conveyed to the senior officials, he said.
“The students and aspirants were requested to go to the designated dharna spot in Civil Lines to stage their protests in a peaceful way. Many of them agreed to the request, but some were still agitating at the UPPSC,” he said.
Condemning the police “highhandedness”, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the BJP government in the state “anti-youth” and “anti-student”. In a statement issued by the party, Yadav claimed when the candidates raised the demand to stop “rigging” in UPPCS exams in Prayagraj, the “corrupt” BJP government turned violent.
STUDENTS SPEAK UP
“UPPSC has cheated the students. Normalisation is a conspiracy to exclude the deserving aspirants. Even the Supreme Court has ruled that no changes can be made in the rules after issuing the notification for inviting applications for the examinations,” said a student Sandeep Agrahari.
“UPPSC should conduct examination in one shift. The examination centres should be made in all districts of the state,” said another aspirant Surendra Verma.
“On what basis will the commission establish that the question paper was easy or tough. This process will encourage injustice to students,” said Mohd Rizvi, a student.
SP STUDENT WING SUBMITS MEMO
Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha representatives on Monday submitted a memorandum addressed to the UPPSC chairman through the city magistrate, Lucknow, demanding that PCS preliminary examination 2024 and RO/ARO Examination 2023 be conducted as before.
“Our demand is that the said examinations should be conducted in a fair and controversy-free manner in one day and one shift as before,” said Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha national vice-president Mahendra Kumar Yadav.