The results of the APPSC Group-1 Mains examinations have stoked fresh concerns among a section of aspirants.
Several candidates are raising questions over the genuineness of the results, saying that they had put in a much better performance in the exam than what the results indicate. Many of the candidates said they qualified in the UPSC Prelims and Mains exams as well, but were unable to qualify in the Group-1 Mains exam.
On Monday, some of the candidates approached the APPSC secretary in Vijayawada, who stated that all procedures were followed while publishing the results.
“Most candidates who cleared even UPSC Mains and interviews have failed to clear Group-1 Mains despite getting a year-and-half of preparation time,” said a candidate from Guntur.
Some of the candidates have pointed out that the Commission has given the responsibility of conducting the Mains exam and evaluation of results to a third party. This private agency reportedly followed its own evaluation criteria, with answer copies said to have been digitally scanned.
“How can the APPSC give up its Constitutional duty to conduct exams and evaluate results to a private organisation? What is the experience of this private organisation in handling a governmental recruitment examination? There are several questions such as the kind of training imparted to the evaluators by the private organisation and what parameters have been applied. Digital evaluation and digital scanning leaves a lot of scope for technical errors,” said another candidate requesting not to be named.
Some aver that a significant proportion of candidates have cleared the Mains with just a month of preparation after APPSC released a new selection list in November 2020.
These candidates, with a very low score in Prelims, have cleared Group-1 Mains but many candidates with good scores in Prelims, even after one-and-a-half years of preparation, have not made it past the interview.
The APPSC has introduced new subjects like Ethics, Public Administration and Geography in tune with the UPSC syllabus for the first time. The candidates urged the Commission to publish the names and marks of all candidates who cleared Group-1 Mains, including their Prelims scores.
