APPSC Group I Mains exam postponed again

HC directed the State government to explore possibilities of conducting examination all over again.

The High Court issued a stay order on the conduct of Group I Mains examination on January 27, 2020. The court has also directed the State government to explore possibilities of conducting examinations all over again. Further the Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) and the Secretary of General Administration Department received notice from the HC Bench headed by Chief Justice J.K. Maheswari and N. Jaya Surya to furnish the compliance report within two weeks and shift the hearing by two weeks.

Imposing serious strictures on the State government, the HC questioned the accountability and credibility of the prelims examination question paper. As the petitioners have already approached the court stating the errors they have found in the preliminary exam question paper. The petitioners have stated that there were 51 errors in 120 questions.

The Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) had issued an official notification for the Group I services in order to fill up 169 posts in December 2018. The preliminary examination for the same was held on May 26, 2019. According to the initial scheduling, the mains examination for the Group I services was supposed to be conducted from June 10, but was postponed later on. In the meantime, petitioners filed multiple petitions in the High Court requesting that the court should put a stay on the result of the prelims examination as there were several discrepancies. Such discrepancies include errors in the question paper’s Telugu translation, the ban on the use of calculators, etc.

On November 1, 2019, the results for the prelims examinations were released, and the Commission declared to hold the conduction of mains from December 2, 2019, till December 14, 2019. Later on, the schedule was deferred again to February. The delays in the conduction of mains have shocked the aspirants. The candidates who have qualified the Prelims are confused over the uncertainty that is there in the conduction of the examination.

Moreover, 80% of 8,351 candidates who have qualified the 2019 prelims are likely to appear in the next UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination to be conducted on May 31, 2020. There is a lot of difference in the way candidates prepare for prelims examination and mains examination. This is why candidates have urged APPSC to conduct Group1 Mains examination as early as possible in March’s first week. This will give candidates at least two months’ time to prepare for Civil Services Prelims Examination 2020.

The civil services 2019 examination’s interviews for Andhra Pradesh candidates are supposed to be held in the last week of March and the first week of April. The reports suggest that there may be a few candidates who will attend UPSC interviews. Candidates have also urged APPSC to plan the next schedule carefully to avoid any such delays and postponement questioning the credibility of the Commission.

Read More:

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