*High-time for replacement of experts
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 13: Uncertainty is looming large over the fate of thousands of candidates who have recently cleared the Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) has decided to get the keys of all the 23 subjects evaluated from the experts before declaring result afresh, which is also fraught with the danger of opening floodgates of litigations and creating impediments in holding the main examination.
As per the figures of the Public Service Commission, 36,681 candidates appeared in both the papers in the Preliminary Examination and a total of 6925 candidates were declared to have qualified for the admission to the J&K Combine Competitive (Main) Examination on the basis of their performance in the examination held on March 19, 2016 and in terms of Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 8 of J&K Combined Competitive Examination Rules, 2008 as amended from time to time.
The result of Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination was declared on April 23, 2017 while adopting the rule mentioning that the number of candidates to be admitted to the main examination shall be to the proportion of 25 times of the total number of vacancies.
However, those candidates who could not find their names in the result of preliminary examination approached the Commission by filing application under Right to Information Act to match the PSC’s official answer key to the answers written by them. After hectic efforts, they succeeded in scanning the key of political science and few other subjects and accordingly found several questions or answers wrong in the official key thereby raising serious questions over the fairness of the preliminary examination.
“As the grave errors on the part of subject experts have put the Public Service Commission in the dock it has been decided to get the keys of all the 23 subjects evaluated from some other experts instead of focusing on political science only so as to allay the apprehensions about fairness in the selection of candidates having opted other subjects as optional”, sources said, adding the Commission will shortly identify the experts for this vital exercise so as to complete the process within shortest possible time.
It is pertinent to mention here that preliminary examination consists of two papers—General Studies (150 marks) and one subject to be selected from the list of 22 optional subjects.
After evaluation of keys of all the 23 subjects the Public Service Commission will declare KAS preliminary examination result afresh. “In this process the possibility of candidates who have cleared the examination as per the result declared on April 23, 2017, not finding their names in the fresh result cannot be ruled out”, sources said, adding “in such a situation floodgates of litigations will get opened and stall the entire process for unspecified period as disposal of litigations generally takes time”.
“In view of the prevailing situation nobody in the Commission is in a position to specify as to when the main examination will be conducted on the ground that everything now depends on outcome of evaluation of keys by new experts and subsequent issuance of fresh result”, sources further said.
They said that these unfortunate developments have brought to the fore the necessity of immediately replacing the subject experts by the Public Service Commission so as to ensure that such a major problem doesn’t recur in future.
It is pertinent to mention here that EXCELSIOR has repeatedly laid thrust on overhauling the entire set-up in the Public Service Commission so as to ensure utmost transparency in the selections and ensure that people from all the regions and sub-regions of the State start reposing faith in the selection procedure of this major recruiting agency.
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