APPSC to re-conduct combined prelims following complaints

Itanagar, Dec. 18 (PTI): The Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has decided to re-conduct the combined competitive preliminary exams following protests over anomalies in question papers of the optional subjects, an official release said. The exam, conducted last month, ran into controversy after candidates accused the commission of providing erroneous question papers and setting questions from a Pakistan-based website. The release, however, did not mention the new date for the exam. The candidates even staged a dharna in front of the Commission s office, demanding re-conduct of the exam. Their other demands included disciplinary action against the Controller of Examinations, setting up of an enquiry committee headed by a retired High Court judge or a sitting Session judge. Meanwhile, the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) on Monday in a memorandum to the Commission s chairman, asked him to immediately adopt the Union Public Service Commission pattern of conducting the civil services exam in the state. The party suggested the APPSC to do away with the outdated system of conducting the preliminary exam where the candidates appear with different optional subjects. Instead, the UPSC pattern of a civil services aptitude test and a general studies paper mandatory for all the candidates irrespective of their different academic backgrounds should be introduced from the next exam,” the party said. This change is most essential to give a fresh image to the APPSC, the PPA observed. The party also suggested immediate action against the agencies that were entrusted with the task of preparing the question papers. Appropriate action should also be initiated against all those who were responsible in entrusting the task to such agencies that has been found to be totally ‘incompetent and non-professionals, the party added.