A peaceful candle march is set to take place today, Friday, November 8, at 6.30 pm in Vardhman Mall, Nehru Vihar, New Delhi, organised by candidates preparing for the upcoming Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) and Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services (UPPCS) exams.
The protest is in response to the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission's (UPPSC) decision to conduct these exams over multiple shifts. Candidates argue that this multi-session format, paired with the percentile-based scoring system, introduces significant discrepancies and compromises fairness.
In previous years, these competitive exams were conducted in a single shift, ensuring uniform testing conditions for all participants.
Navneet Kumar Dubey, an experienced candidate who has appeared for past UPPSC exams and is set to attempt the upcoming ones too, emphasised the group's peaceful intent. “All we want is fairness. Our primary concern is that the multi-shift format can lead to inconsistencies in scoring due to the uneven distribution of candidates with different skill levels across shifts,” he explained. He added that the percentile-based system fails to account for these variations, which can result in significant score discrepancies and unfair outcomes.
In addition to the candlelight vigil, a larger maha andolan (mass protest) is planned for November 11, 2024, at 11.00 am at the UPPSC Office (Lok Seva Aayog), Gate Numbers 2 and 3, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, to reinforce their demands.
This follows a previous peaceful demonstration on October 21, where around 2,000 to 2,500 candidates gathered to voice their concerns, yet received no satisfying response.
Dubey expressed the candidates' readiness to continue the protest for as long as necessary.
“On November 11, we will remain outside those gates until our demands are met and we receive written confirmation of the same.” He concluded, “Humne sarkaar chuni hai, toh sarkaar ko humaari baat sunni chahiye, na? (We chose this government, so shouldn’t the government listen to us?)”
The RO/ARO exam, conducted to select candidates for clerical and administrative review roles in state government departments, is set to take place on December 7-8, 2024. The exam is set to be held in three shifts over two days.
The UPPCS exam, which recruits officers for higher-level administrative and executive positions within the state, is scheduled for December 22-23, 2024, with two shifts each day.
