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Kerala Administrative Service exam questions copied from Pak paper, allege aspirants, lawmaker
Congress legislator PT Thomas was first to raise the allegation and later many candidates also agreed with him.
Aspirants and a Congress leader have alleged several questions in the recently-held Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) examination, written by 350,000 candidates, were “lifted straight” from the papers of the Pakistan civil service examination held in 2001.
Congress legislator PT Thomas was first to raise the allegation and later many candidates also agreed with him.
“Six questions in the public administration section were taken straight from an examination paper in Pakistan. The State Public Service Commission spends enough money on question paper setting. Copying is not fair and it is a serious issue,” said the legislator seeking a detailed inquiry.
K Mithun, an aspirant who appeared for the exam, also said: “some of the questions were quite awkward”.
“In six questions in the public administration section even the options were same as in the old question paper of Pakistan civil service examination. It really exposes the seriousness of the PSC authorities,” Mithun said.
Some candidates also alleged that many questions were copied from the study material prepared by a coaching centre.
Chairperson of the commission, MK Zakeer, said public administration was a universal subject and it was wrong to raise such allegations.
“These questions are theoretical ones. There can be similarities. The theory will remain the same everywhere. It is preposterous to raise such allegations,” he said.
The PSC was mired in a big controversy last year after several bundles of blank answer sheets and fake seals were seized from the houses of leaders of the Students Federation of India, the student wing of the ruling CPI(M).
Three main accused in the case, who were also involved in many criminal cases, were later expelled by the SFI.
The exam to KAS, conducted to select candidates for top administrative posts in the state government, was held for the first time this year.
The preliminary exam was held on February 22.
