In spite of the controversies the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) has faced in recent times, it has invited online applications from aspirants for 440 posts of Gazetted Probationers’ posts of Group A and B-2014. Questions, pertinently, are now being raised whether the preliminary examinations scheduled for April 19 will be held as planned.
A highly placed source in the KPSC told The Hindu on Thursday: “If all goes well, the exams will be held as per schedule, and we are expecting over two lakh candidates to appear for the preliminary examinations.”
Scepticism over the legalities of inviting online applications, however, looms large. Expressing apprehensions, the source said: “If somebody moves the court challenging the KPSC decision to conduct the examination, then we don’t know what will happen.”
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The State government had scrapped the selection list of 2011 batch following alleged malpractices in main examination and interviews. The government’s decision was challenged in the Karnataka High Court by candidates.
For the first time in the coming examinations, the KPSC will introduce negative marks for wrong answers. For a wrong answer, one-fourth (0.25) of the marks assigned to the question would be deducted as penalty, said a notification issued by Manoj Kumar Meena, Secretary, KPSC. “If the answer to a question is left blank, there will be no penalty for that,” it said. A certain percentage of posts have been reserved for candidates of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region as per Article 371-J of the Constitution.