BPSC exam row: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav demands extension in exam date

Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday came in support of protesting BPSC aspirants and demanded extension in the exam date of the upcoming 70th Preliminary examination of the Commission, scheduled to be held on December 13.

Talking to reporters in Lakhisarai, Yadav who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly said the Nitish Kumar government is... government of 'lathi-danda'.

"The NDA government in the state is not bothered about the issues concerning protesting BPSC aspirants. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is clueless about the things which are happening in the state…lakhs of students are protesting against BPSC's indifferent attitude towards the demands of students," he said.

The Commission must extend the BPSC's Preliminary examination date, scheduled to be held on December 13…as lakhs of students could not fill out the forms due to problems in the server, Yadav said.

"They (Nitish Kumar government) are more interested in crushing demands of students….we will not allow this to happen," the RJD leader said.

BPSC aspirants in Patna have been protesting against alleged changes to the rules for the 70th BPSC Preliminary examination, demanding that the exam be held in a 'one shift, one paper' format instead of using the 'normalisation of marks' process, which adjusts scores for exams held in multiple shifts to ensure fairness. The protests near the BPSC office in Patna escalated on Friday and police were called in to control the crowd who were blocking traffic.

BPSC already said that no changes will be made in the examination process and the old system of 'one shift, one paper' format will be used.

BPSC Chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai has already made it clear that the dates of the December 13 examination cannot be further extended at all.

Talking to PTI, the chairman said, "It was already extended from October 18 (earlier last date) to November 4. More than 4.83 lakh aspirants have already applied for the exam. It will be unfair to the aspirants who have already applied. All preparations have been made for the exam on December 13. Around 30,000 CCTV cameras and jammers have already been installed at 1000-odd centres." "I must clarify that there was no technical problem in the server of the BPSC. When the last day was extended from October 18 to November 4, around 1.40 lakh more students applied for the exam in the 15 days extended period. There was no technical problem with the server for them !!!!," said the chairman.

He said if the date is extended (which is not going to happen at all) further, then the preliminary exam can not be held before April-May, 2025.

"The entire process will be delayed for at least 5-6 months. We will not be able to get examination Centres, invigilators and other required logistics from January, 2025 to March, 2025 as several other exams are already scheduled to be held in the next three four months…like final exams of class 10, 11, 12 and several other competitive exams", the chairman said.