Mix-up in question paper distribution delays TNPSC exam

CHENNAI: Aspirants attending Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission’s Group II and IIA mains examinations in several centres across the state were in for a shock as there was a mix up in the question-cum-answer booklet distributed to them. The candidates were given booklets bearing different registration numbers than theirs, and as a result, the examination that was scheduled to start at 9.30 am was delayed by up to 90 minutes.

The examination was conducted for 5,446 posts in the combined civil services examination (interview and non-interview posts) (group II and group IIA services). A total of 9,95,808 candidates had attended the preliminary examinations of which 58,081 cleared to attend the mains.

The aspirants wrote paper 1 (compulsory Tamil eligibility test) for 100 marks in the morning and paper 2 (general studies) for 300 marks in the afternoon on Saturday. In many centres, when the question-cum-answer booklets were distributed to the aspirants, they saw that their registration numbers were written wrong, causing chaos. In some places, students also staged protests due to the confusion.

“We were scared that we could not attend the examinations as officials didn’t tell us what led to the problem initially. In our centre, the examination started only at 10.15 am,” said Paramesh Kumar who attended the examination at the centre in Queen Mary’s College in Chennai.

Many complained that all the candidates didn’t get the same duration of break or time to attend the examination. “Our break time was cut short by 20 minutes and we were stressed throughout. The staff didn’t come back till 9.50 am in our centre,” said another aspirant who wrote the examination at Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women.

The problem was also there in other districts, and many complained they were not given enough time to complete the examination. “While we were told that the general studies examination will begin by 2.30 pm, and booklets would be distributed 15 minutes before to give us time to read the questions, I didn’t get it till 2.25 pm. While the blank pages should be struck out before submission as per norms, the invigilators forcefully grabbed the booklets from many of us,” said M Yuvaraj who wrote the examination at Tirunelveli.

At Parvathy’s Arts and Science College in Dindigul, the exam started two hours late as there was a confusion over a question papers’ serial numbers. The exam that was scheduled to start at 9 am finally commenced at 11.15 am and ended at 2.15 pm. After 45 minutes of lunch break, the second exam started at 3 pm and ended at 6 pm.

TNPSC sent a press release in which it said there was a difference in sequence of arrangement in the attendance sheet order and question booklet order and stated that candidates will be given additional time corresponding to the delay. It also added that afternoon session examination was scheduled from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. However, it didn’t say what led to the confusion.

(With inputs from Dindigul)