Over 1.5 lakh candidates skip PCS (Prelim) examination
ALLAHABAD: Over 1.5 lakh registered candidates gave the prestigious PCS (Prelim)-2014 exam a miss in the state on Sunday.
An agitation spread over the last few weeks against the controversial Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), the format of which has also been adopted for the PCS (Prelim)-2014 exam, could be one of the reasons for the large number of absentees.
The CSAT, designed mainly for the Union Public Service Commission civil service exam, has been at the centre of a controversy following allegations that it puts Hindi-medium students at a disadvantage.
Besides, there have been rumours over the past few days about the examination being postponed.
Another possible cause for many candidates giving the exam a skip could be the far-off centres allotted to them.
The test is officially known as t he Combined State / Upper Subordinate Services Examination-2014. It is conducted by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC).
The exam was conducted at 790 centres in 20 districts on Sunday. A total of 3,88,466 candidates had registered for the popular exam but only 2,14,693 candidates (55.26%) appeared in it. In Allahabad, 22,514 out of the 39,691 registered aspirants (56.72%) took the test.
Mahendra Ram, UPPSC controller of exam, said the exam passed off peacefully with no reports of any untoward inci- dent from any centre in the state.
Meanwhile, a number of candidates alleged that top UPPSC officials made contradictory statements on many TV news channels about the exam.
Thus, the candidates, said they were confused about whether the exam would take place as scheduled or be postponed at the last moment. That was why they ended up not appearing in the test, the candidates alleged.
They expressed sadness over the lack of a final confirmation coming forth officially from the commission on the eve of the exam.