Candidates say general studies question bundle seal broken; TNPSC says all fine

CHENNAI:  Even as some political parties and many candidates demand that Group II and IIA main examinations conducted by Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) on Saturday be cancelled, the commission claimed general studies paper, whose marks alone will be considered for ranking, has been conducted smoothly. 

Also, the commission hinted that all candidates who appeared for Tamil language paper will likely be declared as pass. The Tamil language paper, which was held on Saturday morning, was delayed in several centres because the question booklet number did not match the candidates’ roll numbers.

At a few centres in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, the booklet was taken back from candidates 15 to 30 minutes after the exam commenced.  As a result, the general studies paper was rescheduled to 2.30 pm instead of 2 pm. But few candidates who interacted with TNIE said that the exam was delayed by 60 to 90 minutes. 

“When the question booklet bundle for general studies paper was brought to the hall, the seal was broken. This might be because invigilators verified the sequence of the numbers for the afternoon paper due to confusion that prevailed in the forenoon session. This means, the question paper for general studies may have been opened before the exam started,” said a candidate who appeared for the exam in Avadi.

A city-based TNPSC trainer recalled that Group II exam held in in August 2012 was cancelled following complaints of question paper leak.  “The confidentiality of the question booklet appears to have been compromised. If candidates approach the High Court, the outcome would take years,” he said. 

Secretary of TNPSC P Uma Maheswari, however,  denied that the seal of question booklets was broken before the exams started. Ajay Yadav, Controller of Examinations (CoE) of TNPSC issued a statement on Monday stating, “In previous examinations, over 98% of candidates cleared the Tamil eligibility paper. Considering the inconvenience faced by candidates in the Tamil paper this year, genuine concerns of candidates will be addressed duly during evaluation.”  

Further, he stated that the commission would take stringent action against all those responsible for the mismatch of sequence for Tamil paper. A total of 58,081 candidates was shortlisted for the main examination, of which 57,093 candidates attended. The exams were conducted for filling 5,446 vacancies in group II & IIA posts.  The AIADMK, PMK, CPM and a few other parties too demanded cancellation of the exams.