Srinagar, Dec 12: Kashmir-based KAS-2016 exam aspirants Wednesday held a protest against what they called arbitrary and whimsical procedures of Jammu Kashmir Public Service Commission.
The protesting aspirants alleged that there is mass error in evaluation of Mains papers.
Aspirants opined it’s because of the new system adopted by the commission, Digital Marking, which is experimental & has already attracted litigations elsewhere. Orissa High Court in August 2018 held that digital marking is not final and machine error warrant human intervention while delivering its judgment on a petition filed by a candidate against CBSC NEET-UGC exam.
“Even UPSC hasn’t adopted such an experimental process riddled with flaws.
The Scaling/Moderation method adopted by commission is arbitrary & therefore doesn’t reflect true merit.”
The protesters who assembled here in Pratap Park Srinagar said that the notification via which the posts for KAS-2016 were published never had mention of any kind of Scaling/Moderation. The aspirants say that the commission can’t change courses during the process of exam. It’s ultra-vire.
They said they Zoology-mains-paper was re-conducted by the commission, citing ‘Mass Copying’. The aspirants said that if candidates resort to unfair practice like mass copying, they ought to be debarred from the current as well as future exam process, as per the prescribed rules. Contrarily, the commission gave them extra time & conducted a re-exam. It is malafide. Where then some blue-eyed boys/girls entertained?
They said that Public Service Commission is conducting the Viva Voce within 15 days from the declaration of the Mains result. The aspirants say it’s unprecedented & has never happened in history of KAS exam. If JKPSC is in hurry & strife, are they then trying to drub something fishy beneath the carpet?
“JKPSC hasn’t been entertaining even the RTI since 2014 and Xerox of answer scripts demanded by aspirants aren’t being furnished. It has made the functioning of the commission opaque & killed transparency and bred favoritism, nepotism & corruption.”
They said that re-evaluation procedure is a mere hoax. As it’s only reduced to the exercise of re-counting of marks priory allotted.
Pertinently, after initially denying any wrongdoing in the Preliminary exam, the commission went on to revise its own official answer key paving way for inclusion/exclusion 429 candidates. This revision then opened the Pandora box of litigations and ultimately led to quashment of KAS-Mains-2016 by the Honourable HC. (The first time it was conducted in March 2018).
The aspirants prayed that Commission be asked to halt the conduction of Viva Voce forthwith.
“They said an independent judicial enquiry be constituted, to bring to fore the misdemeanors of the commission.”
They said re-evaluation of Mains papers be carried out manually & preferably by the Central Merit Watch-Dog, UPSC.
The aspirants also prayed to the Supreme Court and J&K HC to take cognizance of the matter & deliver prompt justice to the aggrieved aspirants. “If demands not met we will resort to harsher methods of protest like hunger strike and self-immolation and commission will be responsible for all this.”
