‘Fraudulent’ selection list issued by PSC raises many questions
Corruption seems to be deep rooted in Jammu and Kashmir’s Public Service Commission (PSC), the body incharge of making Gazetted appointments in various government departments. This was evident as the Commission issued the selection list of 10 2 lecturers for Commerce subject for their appointment in the school education department.
The candidates that were dropped by the Commission accused it of accommodating blue-eyed candidates over the meritorious students who had high score in the written test.
Some angry candidates said, “The PSC has selected those candidates for the post, who were not in the merit list and their names were not shortlisted for the interview.”
As per the PSC notification, the final selection list was issued on the basis of Rule 51 of JKPSC rules, 1980 amended from time to time. As per Rule 51, the candidates who scored a minimum of 50 per cent marks in written test shall be called for interview.
PSC had received a total of 2,986 applications for the post of commerce lecturers, of which 2,468 sat for the written test. The result of the written test was declared on April 2 and 60 candidates were shortlisted for the interview.
The notification states that maximum marks for the overall selection of candidates is 100, which includes 60 in written and 25 in viva and 15 points to the candidates for having highest qualification like M.Phil or P.hd, gold medal and research publications.
Candidate gets a benefit one point each if he has distinction in sports, NCC certificate or has been awarded with a gold medal. If the candidate has any publications, he gets four points for it.
As per the final selection list, a copy of which is available with this newspaper, it has been revealed that a candidate with Roll Number 4901772, scored only 29.492 points that was less than the cut-off point, in the written test. However, this candidate was called for interview by PSC.
Questioning this fact, some dejected candidates said, “If the cut-off point in the merit list was above 40, how come this candidate was called for interview? And strangely, the candidate figures at number one in the selection list.”
The candidates also said that if the blue-eyed aspirant with roll number 4901772 got 29.492 in written exams, he/she was awarded a total of 70.72 points in the selection list. “Even if she gets 40 in viva and for other specialization, the total point’s equals to 69.492 but how come she got 70.72,” asked the candidates.
In another case, a female candidate with Roll Number 4902179 scored 26.441 in the written exams but still figures in the selection list.
“She is not a super-human. She got 29.492 points in written exams but how come she can be awarded 40 out of 40 marks in viva and other specialization when she is a recent pass out. She was awarded 70.72 marks.”
“The candidate is a recent pass out from Kashmir University and has no research publications. Her selection for the post reveals fraudulent selection by PSC.”
Surprisingly, the candidates who scored 46, 44 and higher marks in written exams were not called for the interview.
The aggrieved candidates have questioned the PSC move for not uploading the answer of the questions asked in the written exams.
“Exam conducting bodies like UGC publish keys after conducting the NET exams to bring more transparency. KU or JKSSRB also publish the keys after every examination but only PSC has some reservation to it,” the candidates said.
The dejected candidates have sought a thorough probe into the matter to bring facts to fore. “There should be investigations into this fraud.”
Under fire, PSC authorities admitted the error and issued a fresh notification stating that the roll numbers of some candidates who were interviewed on April 6 have been wrongly mentioned due to typographical error.
“The correct names and roll numbers of the shortlisted candidates shortlisted and called for interview has been corrected,” reads a notification issued by undersecretary JKPSC, Kavitah Pandoh.
KV Correspondent
