Why Students Are Protesting Against UPPSC Exams 2024 Schedule

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has released the UPPSC RO ARO Notification 2024 for the recruitment of eligible candidates for the posts of Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO). Following the announcement, protests have emerged concerning the scheduling of the PCS and RO ARO examinations.

According to reports, candidates have raised objections to the decision to conduct the UP Public Service Commission’s PSC Pre 2024 and the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer Preliminary Examination 2023 over two days and in two shifts, deeming it unfair.

Students in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, have started protesting against this decision. Several students approached the UP Public Service Commission to present a memorandum to the officials, demanding that the preliminary examination be conducted on a single day and in one shift.

The protesting students argue that holding the exam over two shifts would result in complications due to normalisation, a process that could potentially affect their scores. They have received information that the commission plans to hold the examination over two days and two shifts, a decision they consider inappropriate. To challenge this, the students have launched a hashtag campaign on the social media platform X, demanding that the exam be conducted on a single day and shift. This campaign is currently trending, with over 150,000 people showing their support.

The UPPSC RO and ARO Preliminary Examination 2023 is scheduled for December 22-23, 2024, while the PCS Pre 2024 exam is slated for December 7-8, 2024. Earlier, on February 11, 2024, the preliminary examination for the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer 2023 was cancelled due to a paper leak. The PCS Pre 2024 exam was also postponed following protests over the paper leak in the RO and ARO recruitment exams.

Subsequently, the commission released a schedule in June for the PCS Pre exam to be conducted on October 26-27. However, due to the unavailability of examination centres, the commission could not hold the exams on those dates. As a result, the PCS Pre exam has been rescheduled for December 7-8, 2024, while the RO and ARO Preliminary Examination 2023 will now take place on December 22-23, 2024.

These revised dates are now being opposed by students. Reports suggest that 5,76,000 candidates have applied for the PCS Pre exam, while more than 1 million candidates have applied for the RO and ARO Preliminary Examination 2023.