Despite the decision by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) to reconduct the Integrated 70th Combined Competitive Examination (Prelims) for candidates from the cancelled exam centre in Patna, the protests by BPSC aspirants still continue.
Today, the protesting BPSC aspirants announced that they will further intensify their demonstration by launching a ‘fast-unto-death’ agitation starting today, December 20.
This follows the notice by the commission, informing that the exam will be reconducted on January 4, 2025, for candidates who took the test at Patna’s Bapu Pariksha Bhavan due to alleged irregularities at the centre.
The protesting aspirants are demanding that the exam be cancelled and reconducted for all candidates and not just one centre, alleging that the malpractices were widespread.
Several candidates from different cities and exam centres in Bihar have allegedly reported instances of cheating and malpractice during the CCE exam.
Speaking to EdexLive, Raushan Kumar, a BPSC CCE candidate, said, “Students from several centres have reported delays of up to an hour in receiving their question papers. In other centres, jammers were malfunctioning and students brought mobile phones inside the exam halls. Candidates from Gaya and other cities have also reported mass cheating. The primary demand from the students is that the exam be re-conducted for all, as limiting it to just the 12,000 candidates would not provide a level playing field for all.”
What happened?
At the Bapu Pariksha Bhavan exam centre in Patna, a group of candidates allegedly broke into the storage boxes for question papers. Some tore the papers, while others fled with them and distributed them to people outside the exam hall.
This occurred after an unusual delay of over 45 minutes in the distribution of the question papers by the exam centre management. Additionally, several candidates raised concerns about the sealed question paper boxes not being opened in their assigned rooms.
“We want what happened at Bapu Pariksha Bhavan to be investigated thoroughly and transparently. The main demand is that the exam be cancelled for all the students and be reconducted in a transparent manner. We also want the removal of BPSC Chairman Ravi Manu Bhai S Parmar,” said Dileep Kumar, a student leader from Bihar.
Meanwhile, the BPSC chairman has maintained that the exam was conducted fairly across 911 out of 912 centres, dismissing the allegations of paper leaks as mere rumours.
