Full Commission meeting over ST expose; 24 wrong
questions/answers being referred to team of experts; KAS Main exam notification withdrawn
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR: For the first time in its history of 60 years, the Jammu and Kashmir State Public Service Commission (PSC) has decided to evaluate afresh entire Preliminary of J&K Competitive Service Combined Examination 2016 after STATE TIMES reported in Monday’s edition that as many as 16 questions and answers of the official answer were wrong in Political Science alone.
Even as Chairman Lateef-uz-Zaman Deva was not available for comment and the Members refused to speak, well-placed authoritative sources revealed to this correspondent that entire result of the KAS Preliminary would be tabulated and declared afresh after seeking comments on “24 wrong questions and answers” from a team of the subject experts. The examination (Preliminary) to fill up 277 vacancies of KAS Junior in the State Civil Services had been held on March 19, 2017, and its result declared on April 23, 2017. Currently PSC was in the process of holding the Main exam of around 7,000 candidates from July 17.
Sources revealed that a full commission meeting was held and presided over by Chairman Deva to take cognizance of today’s story in this newspaper that made it clear that as many as 16 questions and answers in the Political Science paper had been found “wrong”. The report had mentioned that some questions and answers in other papers, including General Studies, had been noticed as “wrong”.
Sources said that the PSC officials checked all the 16 questions of Political Science and one question of General Studies as identified by this newspaper and a number of representations from the unsuccessful candidates and observed that there was “substance” in the report and the candidates’ submissions. “In light of your report and representations from the candidates, 24 Questions in Political Science, Zoology and General Studies were identified. The Commission decided to refer all these questions—and the answers thereto given by experts in the official answer key—to a fresh team of subject experts in a transparent manner. On the basis of the fresh experts’ report, entire Preliminary exam would be re-assessed and the result would be compiled and declared afresh”, said a senior official. The official disclosed that the Commission immediately withdrew Notification of the Main exam that was scheduled to commence from July 17.
Sources said that the team of experts being constituted on Tuesday would be asked to find the correct answers to the 24 identified questions and provide same to the PSC within a week’s time. The evaluation would be accordingly carried out afresh and the result declared afresh within the next 15 days. Schedule of the Main exam would also be notified afresh. According to these sources, all those subject experts whose questions or answers would be found deficient would be black-listed for ever and an enquiry would be ordered to learn how such experts had been empanelled and hired by the Commission.
As already reported, PSC’s Secretary Shakeel-ur-Rehman Rather has been lately replaced by KAS officer Sunita Anand while as both the old fossil consultants have been disengaged under orders of Chairman Deva. Charge of Controller of Examinations has been assigned to a Deputy Secretary.
As per the result declared on April 23, cut-off had been fixed at 270. However, around 145 of the failed candidates approached PSC with the submission that their OMR sheets and official answer key should be provided to them. The PIOs refused to provide them requisite information even in the First mandatory appeal. Finally Secretary Shakeel-ur-Rehman permitted a group of the failed candidates to enter a room without cellphones and hold an “inspection” of their OMR answer sheets and the official answer key. It was in this exercise that the aggrieved candidates noticed as many as 16 wrong questions/answers in the Political Science paper.
The official answer key mentioned oncology (the science of cancer) as “science of mountains” in a question in General Studies.
