Patna, Dec 8 (PTI) The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Sunday reiterated that the 70th preliminary examination will be held as scheduled on December 13 and there is "no question of extending the date further."
BPSC chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai told PTI, "The date of examination cannot be extended further. The 70th Preliminary Examination of the BPSC will be held on December 13 in a 'one shift, one paper' format." The BPSC also issued a statement in this connection.
This comes on a day a delegation of protesting BPSC aspirants met senior officials of the commission demanding an extension of the exam date claiming that lakhs of students could not fill the forms due to server issues. However, the commission refused to accept the demand, asserting that the exam will be held on time.
The combined (preliminary) competitive examination will recruit candidates for Group A and B posts. Approximately five lakh candidates are expected to appear for the exam, which will be conducted across 925 centres in the state.
"It was already extended from October 18 (the original deadline) to November 4. More than 4.83 lakh aspirants have already applied for the exam. It would be unfair to those who have already applied," the chairman. "All preparations have been made for the exam. Around 30,000 CCTV cameras and jammers have already been installed at the centres," he added.
The chairman said, "I must clarify that there was no technical problem with the BPSC server. When the deadline was extended from October 18 to November 4, around 1.40 lakh more students applied for the exam during the extended period. There were no server issues for them."
He further said if the exam date was extended, it would likely be pushed to April-May 2025, delaying the entire process by 5-6 months.
"We would not be able to secure examination centres, invigilators, or other required logistics from January 2025 to March 2025, as several other exams, including the final exams for classes 10, 11, 12, and other competitive exams, are already scheduled," he explained.
Earlier in the day, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav expressed support for the protesting BPSC aspirants and called for an extension of the exam date.
"The NDA government in the state is not bothered about the issues concerning protesting BPSC aspirants. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is clueless about what is happening in the state. Lakhs of students are protesting against BPSC's indifferent attitude towards the demands of students," he said.
Protests have been ongoing in Patna, with BPSC aspirants demanding that the exam be held in a "one shift, one paper" format instead of the "normalisation of marks" process, which adjusts scores for exams held in multiple shifts. The protests near the BPSC office escalated on Friday, prompting police intervention as demonstrators blocked traffic.
During the protests, many aspirants were rounded up by police for staging demonstrations in prohibited areas, while social media was abuzz with rumours that two popular teachers of the aspirants, YouTuber Khan Sir and Motiur Rahman Khan (known as Guru Rahman), had been arrested. However, police denied these rumours, stating that the two teachers were not detained.
BPSC has stated that no changes will be made to the examination process, and the "one shift, one paper" format will remain in place.
Meanwhile, Azad Samaj Party leader Chandra Shekhar Azad, who visited Patna on Sunday, condemned the alleged "lathi-charge" by police on protesting BPSC aspirants.
He said, "The way protesting BPSC aspirants were beaten by police in Patna is highly condemnable. My party is always in support of the protesting students. We will not allow BPSC and the government to crush their demands."