Mumbai: Citing the possibilities of malpractices and irregularities, Congress MLC Satej Patil on Monday demanded that online tests conducted by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) be cancelled.
Raising the issue in the legislative council, Patil said the MPSC had built public trust by successfully conducting offline examinations that produced competent officers capable of efficiently implementing government policies. Shifting to Computer-Based Tests (CBT), he argued, would undermine that trusted system.
"MPSC examinations should be conducted directly by MPSC through the offline mode. The decision to implement CBT (Computer-Based Test) should be withdrawn. The government should address students' concerns regarding normalisation, transparency, and fairness in the examination process," Patil said.
He said the MPSC's primary responsibility is to conduct examinations, not outsource them.
Referring to previous recruitment processes conducted through agencies such as TCS and IBPS, Patil alleged that several irregularities had surfaced, including poor examination centres and inadequate facilities.
Despite students demanding that MPSC conduct examinations independently, the Commission now proposes to conduct Group A, Group B and Group C examinations through CBT with a normalisation system, he said.
Patil said Maharashtra has already witnessed scandals in Mahaportal recruitment, TET, Talathi recruitment, private examination centres and laboratories.
Under the normalisation process, some candidates even received marks exceeding the maximum possible score. Computer systems at private centres can be hacked, remotely accessed, or manipulated, creating opportunities for malpractice, he added.
Unlike offline examinations where every candidate answers the same paper, online tests are conducted in multiple shifts over several days, requiring thousands of different questions while maintaining equal difficulty across all shifts, which is extremely difficult, he said.
Even now, MPSC often has to cancel or revise several questions after examinations, Patil said, adding that under such circumstances, ensuring fairness across multiple online shifts becomes even harder.
He claimed normalisation also creates inequality.
Candidates receiving easier papers may be unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged depending on statistical adjustments. This is not a team competition where group performance matters, but is an individual examination where each candidate competes on personal merit. Therefore, normalisation can unfairly alter rankings, Patil said.
The Congress leader also highlighted practical concerns in conducting online exams, including server failures, paper leaks, and technical glitches.
Many students from rural Maharashtra have limited computer experience because most school and college examinations are still conducted offline. Suddenly expecting them to compete through computers places them at a disadvantage, especially female candidates, Patil said.
He said during a recent online examination for a Water Resources Department post, a candidate allegedly bribed an employee of an examination centre and received answers illegally.
Several individuals, including employees associated with the examination contractor, were arrested, Patil said, adding that such incidents demonstrate the vulnerabilities of online examinations.
The Congress leader further said supporters of online examinations argue that results will be declared faster. However, MPSC already publishes offline examination results efficiently.
For example, answer keys are released promptly, and results are often declared within about three weeks. Students themselves say they do not mind waiting a few extra days if examinations remain fair and offline, he added.
According to Patil, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts its examinations offline. If MPSC has already adopted the UPSC syllabus and standards, why should it not also follow the UPSC's offline examination model, Patil asked.
Although MPSC has argued that several other recruitment agencies conduct CBT examinations, many important state civil service examinations in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh continue to be held offline for higher administrative services, Patil said.
There are nearly 297,000 vacant government posts in Maharashtra. Whenever recruitment announcements are made, lakhs of students prepare with hope. Their future should not be jeopardised by an unfair examination system, he said.
Students have also faced website errors, delays, and inconsistencies in recruitment notifications. Despite these issues, MPSC itself has largely maintained public trust, unlike outsourced agencies, Patil said.
He cited examination fees as another matter of concern. Candidates pay separate fees for every recruitment examination conducted by different government agencies, in addition to travel and accommodation expenses.
A one-time examination fee allowing candidates to appear for any government recruitment examination should be introduced to reduce this financial burden.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
