Thousands of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) aspirants gathered at Muir Hall crossing in Sangam City today, November 11. This call was given by the aspirants of the Provincial Civil Service (PCS) 2024 and Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) preliminary examinations against the commission's call to conduct the exams over two days. Additionally, they were criticising the normalisation formula implemented to evaluate the aspirants' answer sheets, The Times of India reported.

As reported by PTI, on November 5, the UPPSC announced that the RO-ARO preliminary examination would be held in three shifts on December 22 and 23. The PCS preliminary examination will be held in two shifts on December 7 and 8.

Today's protest

As the crowd gathered, the numbers increased as hours passed. The district administration barricaded all the entries leading to gate number three of the commission. Meanwhile, amidst the heavy deployment of police, the aspirants staged a dharna at the Muir Hall crossing.

While the aspirants' attempts to explain their reasons for protesting to the police failed, their movement escalated into an aggressive one. Protestors showcased banners which said "No Normalisaion-2023" and "One Day One Shift".

It is important to note that the commission is conducting these exams in a single month for the first time. A whopping 16.52 lakh candidates have registered for the exams.

According to TOI, the commission decided to conduct these preliminary exams over multiple shifts due to the non-availability of examination centres.