Fractured dreams of service

CHENNAI: In response to the controversy surrounding the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission’s (TNPSC) alleged scam in Group IV exam, civil service aspirants and academicians point out to the nature of these exams currently held and suggest several ways for fair handling in the future.

They say that the department is indifferent to scams and concerns, gradually causing candidates to lose faith.

Niranjana*, a civil service aspirant working with a coaching institute in Anna Nagar, said that it was normal for institutes to claim a high number of aspirants passing from their respective coaching centres.

“Though every charge of malpractice needs to be thoroughly investigated by officials, it’s also important to understand how these institutes function in the first place,” she explained. “The Tenkasi coaching institute caught up in controversy has several branches across Tamil Nadu with a high number of aspirants undergoing training. Hence the probability of these candidates clearing is also high.”

She further added that the State-wide free mock test was conducted by all coaching institutes across the State before any civil service examination.

“A few days before the actual exam, institutes conduct free mock exams for all candidates, including those who are unregistered with them. During which, institutes demand details like candidate’s name, registration number, contact number and email ID,” she explained.

And once the exam results are released and if any candidate who attended the mock exam clears the exam, the institute ‘announce’ and ‘advertise’ that the candidate belonged to their institute. Though unethical, civil service aspirants say this as just a vile marketing technique.

Many aspirants concurred and admitted that one of TNPSC’s biggest flaw was that there was no authority to prevent such scams from happening again. Varun*, an aspirant, detailed on the ways in which TNPSC makes candidates anxious due to lack of proper planning and arrangements.

“The recent incident of Group II and IIA in February is a prime example to explain TNPSC’s inefficiency in planning. Due to differences in the sequence of arrangements, there was a delay in issuing question papers. In many districts, candidates were made to wait for at least 2 hours. Additionally, they ended up cancelling an exam too,” Varun said.

He urged the TNPSC to stick to the annual planner and flow the schedule at all costs. “It’s embarrassing and unfortunate that a government department conducting competitive exams has so many irregularities from corruption to bigotry,” he noted.

Likewise, Sanjith* rued that illegal activities and irregularities from top level officials ultimately affect the candidate’s future. “Of course, scams happen with the knowledge and involvement of TNPSC officials! There’s no doubt about it. From using invisible ink to changing answers and indulging in malpractices, they’re all done with the department’s knowledge. And their ‘so-called’ efforts to rectify the issue is an eyewash,” said an infuriated Sanjith.

He added that the unfair delay in announcing the exam results also enables malpractices. “The Group I prelims exam was conducted in November and so far, TNPSC has not even informed when the results will be out. In certain cases, the department takes close to 2 years to declare results. It’s frustrating,” explained Sanjith.

Meanwhile, an educationalist questioned the government’s negligence in acting on aspirants’ concerns and said, “Gradually, aspirants will lose faith in competitive exams. A candidate would invest a minimum of 3-5 years to prepare and clear an exam. Why is the government neglecting the concerns of these candidates and not implementing stern measures?”

When contacted, the TNPSC joint secretary and official spokesperson K Uma Maheswari, said that the necessary action will be taken by the concerned department and refused to comment further.

(*names changed)