The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Sunday reiterated that the 70th preliminary exam will be held as scheduled on December 13 and “there is no question of advancing the date.” “The date of examination cannot be extended. The 70th preliminary examination of BPSC will be conducted on December 13 in ‘one shift, one paper’ format,” BPSC Chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai told PTI. BPSC also issued a statement in this regard.
This comes on a day when a delegation of protesting BPSC candidates met senior officials of the commission and demanded extension of the exam date. He claims that due to server problem lakhs of students could not fill the form. However, the Commission refused to accept the demand and said that the examination would be held on time.
Candidates will be recruited for Group A and B posts in the Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination. About five lakh candidates are expected to appear in this examination to be conducted at 925 centers in the state.
He said, “It was already extended from October 18 (original deadline) to November 4. More than 4.83 lakh candidates have already applied for the exam. It will be unfair to those who have already applied. Have given,” said the Chairman. “All preparations have been made for the exam. Around 30,000 CCTV cameras and jammers have already been installed at the centres.”
“I would like to clarify that there was no technical problem with the BPSC server. When the deadline was extended from October 18 to November 4, around 1.40 lakh more students had applied for the exam during the extended period,” the chairman said. There were no server issues for them.” He further said that if the exam date is extended, it will probably be postponed to April-May 2025, which will delay the entire process by 5-6 months.
He said, “From January 2025 to March 2025, we will not be able to arrange examination centres, invigilators or other necessary arrangements, as many other examinations including class 10, 11, 12 and other competitive examinations are already scheduled.” Earlier in the day, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav expressed support towards the protesting BPSC aspirants and called for extending the exam date.
He said, “The NDA government in the state is not concerned about the issues related to the protest by BPSC candidates.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has no idea about what is happening in the state. Lakhs of students are protesting against BPSC’s indifferent attitude towards students’ demands.” Protests continue in Patna, with BPSC candidates demanding that the exam be conducted on “one shift, one paper” instead of “normalization of marks” process. format, which accommodates the marks of examinations conducted in multiple shifts.
The protests escalated near the BPSC office on Friday, following which police had to intervene as protesters blocked traffic. During the protests, police detained several candidates for protesting in restricted areas, while rumors spread on social media that two popular teachers of the candidates, YouTuber Khan Sir and Motiur Rehman Khan (known as Guru Rehman) Goes) has been arrested. However, the police refuted these rumors and said that the two teachers have not been detained.
BPSC has said that there will be no changes in the examination process and the format of “one shift, one paper” will remain in place. Meanwhile, Azad Samaj Party leader Chandrashekhar Azad, who came to Patna on Sunday, condemned the alleged “lathi charge” by the police on the protesting BPSC candidates. He said, “The way the police beat up the protesting BPSC candidates in Patna is highly condemnable. My party is always in support of the protesting students. We will not let the BPSC and the government crush their demands.”
