In a relief to lakhs of students preparing for competitive examinations, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has decided to hold the upcoming PCS (Preliminary) Examination 2024 on a single day.

The decision was taken on Thursday on the initiative of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had taken cognizance of the students’ protest earlier.

It is worth mentioning here that the students recently expressed dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the PCS and other selection exams, urging the commission to conduct the PCS Preliminary Examination in a single day instead of multiple shifts.

Acknowledging these concerns, Yogi 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.

The 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.

The secretary of the Commission said given the incidence of paper leaks in many parts of the country in recent months, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to ensure the integrity and transparency of the selection examinations. For this reason, the Commission announced the proposed PCS and RO/ARO examinations in multiple shifts in December.

However, after the demand of the students and the intervention of the chief minister, the PCS preliminary examination will be conducted on the same day.

The report of the committee constituted by the Commission will further strengthen the fairness of the examinations to be held in the future. After this decision, there is a wave of happiness among the students who are praising the chief minister for his quick move.

On Thursday, the students even clashed with police after which the Commission went for an emergency meeting.

Commission Secretary Ashok Kumar came out of the office at around 4 pm on Thursday afternoon and informed the agitating students that ‘UPPSC will conduct the preliminary examination in one day. The Commission will form a committee for the Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) Examination – 2023. The committee will consider all the aspects and present its detailed report soon, he added.

Now, PCS Preliminary and RO/ARO Preliminary exams have been postponed. The PCS exam was scheduled to be held on December 7 and 8, while the RO/ARO exam was proposed on December 22 and 23. Now new dates will be announced.

Even after the government and the UPPSC are on the back foot, the students are sitting outside the commission. They are hooting blowing horns and banging bottles.

The Commission had no option but to accept the demands of the students. The students were adamant on only one demand that the examination should be conducted in a single shift on a single day. Despite accepting the demand, the Commission has not yet issued the notice. Students are waiting for the notice.

This morning, there was a clash between the protesting students and policemen. The policemen in plain uniform arrived to forcibly remove the protesting students. As soon as they saw the police, the students lay down on each other. The students said that the policemen misbehaved with the girl students and also abused them.

The students were enraged by this action of the police. Within an hour, more than 10,000 students reached the Commission. The police had sealed the road to the commission by barricading. The protesting students broke the barricades. The students had reached the gate of the commission.

For the first time in the history of the Commission, the schedule for conducting the examinations of PCS and RO-ARO in two days was released. Earlier, PCS and RO/ARO examinations were conducted on the same day and all the candidates registered for the examination appeared in the same shift. In such a situation, there was no need for a separate uniform evaluation. For the first time, the examinations will be held over two days, due to which the Commission had to adopt the process of normalization.

BJP leader and former Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma said, “The government has constituted a committee for the RO/ARO (Pre.) Examination-2023 by the Commission. The committee will soon consider all the aspects and submit its detailed report. Complete information about how the examination will be conducted in one shift in one day will come later.