Expert blacklisted for PCS exam goof-up

Because of the errors in the answers,the Commission had to amend the results of the prestigious examination for the first time ever and was also also dragged into litigation.

Commission officials said they have to depend on subject experts’ opinion which makes the system error-prone.

Under the existing system,the Commission,after holding the PCS (Pre) examination,which has objective-type questions,puts up an answer key on its website to maintain transparency. The aspirants are then given time,generally not less than a fortnight,to submit objections regarding the correctness of the answer key.

The representations are then examined by the subject experts who are not below the rank of a professor in a reputed Indian university. If the representations are found correct,necessary changes are made in the answer key and the result is announced on the basis of the rectified answer key.

The PCS (Pre) 2010 exam was held in May last year and Commission soon received objections to the answers of nearly a dozen questions. But the subject expert,whose identity has been withheld by the Commission,said there was no substance in the objections.

The answer sheets were then evaluated on the basis of the unchanged answer key and the result announced on June 1. On June 5,one of the aspirants,Sanjay Mishra,filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court,alleging the answer key on the basis of which the result was announced was faulty.

As the Commission prepared to file a counter-affidavit,it realised the objections raised by the petitioners on at least two questions related to the Constitution,which is covered in sociology subject,were correct. The Commission then decided to get opinion of another subject expert,who concurred with the objections.

The correct answers were then incorporated in the answer key and the amended result was announced on July 6. The Commission also blacklisted the expert who had failed to properly examine the objections.

Rajesh Singh of Pratiyogi Chhatra Sangh,which takes up causes of aspirants appearing in various competitive examinations,said the confusion could have been avoided had the commission paid heed to the students’ representations right in the beginning.

UPPSC secretary,B B Singh,however,said the system was such that they had to depend on experts’ opinion. “No official from the Commission has anything to do with the question papers and their answers at any stage. Even when aspirants raise objections,we always go by the expert’s opinion,” he said.

In the amended result,107 previously successful candidates were declared “failed” and 122 candidates,who had failed to qualify initially,were declared “passed”. The High Court has allowed the 107 candidates to appear in the mains examination,which began on August 1,on a provisional basis.