Once again, the much maligned Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC) is in the news. A general lack of trust and suspicion always seem to haunt the Commission every time it conducts the Manipur Civil Services examination.
As the MPSC gets down to brass tacks to conduct the Manipur Civil Service combined competitive Exam 2022 (Preliminary) after a gap of six years, certain posers have come up from the civil service aspirants and sections of the society.
Many candidates have openly expressed doubts of a clean and fair recruitment, in view of the recent experience in the recently concluded MCSCC 2016 (2022) and the examination conduct rules and procedure governing the new competitive examination slated to begin April 30.
As per the aspirants, several lapses and irregularities were found in the recently concluded MCSSC Exam 2016 (2022), such as two cut-off marks for Scheduled Caste candidates, huge variation in marks obtained among candidates, absence of head examiners, no scope of moderation and scaling, etc, leaving room for manipulation.
In the present examination also, several aspirants have pointed out numerous defects in the rules that provide room for leakages of questions as only two question-setters are going to set questions. They believe that there are chances of question leakage from question-setters themselves.
It is essential for MPSC to include a greater number of question-setters so as to reduce chances of leakages of questions from the question-setters. Further, there are no such rules for criteria and qualification of question-setters. As per the present rules any individual can be a question-setter.
It may be recalled that the Manipur High Court had also ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the conduct of the said 2016 MCSCC examinations.
After a prolonged enquiry, the CBI had suggested the MPSC to lay down proper procedures for evaluation and tabulation of answer sheets or books as per the MPSC (Procedure & Conduct of Business) Rules 2011 while laying down proper procedures regarding the engagement of lecturers, etc for transparent scrutiny of answer scripts after evaluation by examiners, including maintenance of records, showing the total number of answer scripts and subjects handed over for scrutiny with date and time of handing over to each lecturer and also date and time of return.
This is about evaluation and scrutiny. Yet, the procedure adopted for setting questions and that of moderation and scaling is also important so as to leave no room for question leaks as raised by the aspirants.
The Commission must come clean on this before going ahead with the conduct of the examination in a fair and transparent manner.
Whenever MPSC examinations are in the offing, people always look up to who is making the promise of a clean examination and the integrity of the chairman and members of the Commission are always up for a microscopic examination.
Whatever be the promise and the measures undertaken, whomsoever the Chairman or the members be, the machinery behind it is all the same. To be clear, the supporting staff is the same.
The Commission is a semi-autonomous organisation, wherein the Chairman and members are appointed by the state government and a Secretary deputed by it from among the ranks of its civil service officers, while the rest of the supporting staff remains the same.
Hence, it has become all the more necessary for the chairman and members to be above corruption and lay down the examination procedure so that it leaves no room for manipulation and mark tampering as seen in the past.
Unless, there is a complete overhaul of the MPSC system, controversies will continue. This is exactly what the general public is trying to point out. The traumatic experience of 2016 examination should not be repeated as the deserving candidates always end up as victims.
