3 weeks Ago By Ardhra Nair
Pune: Aspirants of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations organised a statewide agitation on Wednesday, demanding a 45-day extension for the upcoming State Services Mains exam scheduled for April 26, 27 and 28. The candidates alleged that the period between the declaration of the Prelims exam results on March 12, which were then revised on March 29, and the application deadline of April 9 for the Mains was marred by technical glitches in the portal, adding to their stress. "The delay and technical issues were entirely due to MPSC's systems.
Students spent the past few weeks trying to submit their forms rather than preparing for the exam. We are requesting MPSC to make up for our lost study time," said an aspirant. A delegation of students met MPSC officials in Mumbai on Wednesday to present their concerns.
"They promised to investigate our issues, but no decision was announced. We will continue our protest. Some students are also demanding an increase in Group B posts, but that decision rests with govt, not MPSC," said a student, who was part of the delegation that met with the MPSC chairman and secretary.
The State Services Prelims exam was in Dec 2024. When the results were declared online on March 12, students immediately noticed discrepancies. "The cut-off marks for the open category and the economically weaker sections (EWS) category were identical, which is highly unusual.
The EWS cutoff is always lower than the open category. We also realised that MPSC wrongly marked some Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) students as EWS. This created two major issues: SEBC candidates were miscategorised, and genuine EWS candidates were pushed out of the merit list," said a student.
Following sustained pressure from aspirants, MPSC revised the results on March 29, adding 318 new names to the merit list. However, the problems did not end there. When students tried to fill out forms for the Mains exam, many encountered technical issues.
"Students from the SEBC category were once again being misclassified as EWS. The fee is auto-generated based on category. Despite belonging to the SEBC category, I was issued a challan asking me to pay Rs544, which is the open category fee," said one aspirant.
Another added, "Some students tried calling the commission up to 75 times — with no response. Others emailed and messaged the technical team but got no reply. While the commission extended the deadline twice, ultimately till April 9, the problems persisted.
To make matters worse, the helpline informed students that if those eligible for fee concessions paid Rs544, the fee for open category candidates, they would be treated as the latter category, potentially forfeiting their benefits. Many, therefore, refrained from submitting the form." Another frustrated aspirant shared that although her name appeared in the list of qualified candidates, she was unable to apply for the Mains exam.
"The portal said I had not qualified. I tried calling and emailing the commission's helpline but got no response. Finally, on the last day — April 9 — I received a mail that simply said, ‘Sir/madam, kindly refresh and try again.
' Imagine how stressed I was. How could anyone prepare for the Mains exam under such circumstances?" she said. TOI's calls and messages to MPSC secretary Suvarna Kharat for comment remained unanswered till the time of going to print.
Cops allege influence of coaching classes operators Meanwhile, adding a twist to the tale, a confidential report prepared by the Pune city police states that private coaching classes for MPSC exams, especially those operational in the old parts of the city, are allegedly exhorting the students to agitate for vested interests. Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar told TOI, "Apart from this, coaching class operators are violating many rules; several of them are operating without permission from the city fire brigade, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and other agencies." (With inputs from Gitesh Shelke).
