MPSC Exam Row: KSU Stages Sit-In-Demonstration, Burns Copies Of MPSC Reply

KSU activits held a meeting with MPSC chairman and demanded the Commission to immediately publish the marks of all candidates who appeared for the MCS (Prelims) Examination

The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) today staged a sit-in-demonstration in the Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC)’s premises, protesting against its failure to address the irregularities in the recruitment of MCS, MPS and statistical officers in the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary department. This came after the 48-hour ultimatum served to the MPSC had expired.

Later, the KSU activists held a meeting with MPSC chairman and demanded the Commission to immediately publish the marks of all candidates who appeared for the Meghalaya Civil Service (MCS) (Prelims) Examination.

Addressing the media after the meeting, the Chairman of the KSU Employment Monitoring Cell Reuben Najiar informed that the KSU had presented a series of demands aimed at ensuring transparency in the MPSC examination.

“We have asked the MPSC to publish the marks of all candidates to prevent any discrepancies in the MCS examination. The MPSC has agreed to this demand and assured us that the marks will be published this evening,” Najiar said.

Najiar further announced that KSU outrightly rejected MPSC’s justifications and he joined the other union leaders and members in tearing and burning the copies of the MPSC’s reply.

“We reject this reply of the MPSC. In fact, after going through the MPSC’s reply, we are convinced that there are irregularities in job recruitment. Therefore, we will not allow the MPSC to treat the issue casually in an attempt to mislead the public. We will continue to stage this sit-in-demonstration till MPSC meets all our demands,” he said.

Regarding the MPS examination, the KSU leader said that the union had questioned the MPSC’s decision to deviate from the advertisement and follow the ratio of 1:2.5 while calling candidates to appear for the personal interview.

“The Commission called a small number of candidates, around 27. However, as per the advertisement for the post, 42-43 candidates should have been called for the interview. The MPSC chairman has sought time as they must consult their legal counsel before returning to the union. However, we stressed that they should follow what has been advertised and not deviate from the normal process,” he added.

Najiar also informed that the union questioned the MPSC’s decision to declare the result for two candidates regarding the statistical officer post when the advertisement was made for only one, that too in the Khasi-Jaintia category.

“The MPSC has claimed that they made a clerical error at that point and that a requisition letter for two posts came from the department. They have shown us the letter and other corrigendums involved in it. However, we pointed out that such a clerical error should not be bound to happen.”

Asserting the need to reform the MPSC, the KSU leader said, “If MPSC is what it is right now, such incidents will happen repeatedly.”

He further informed the media that the union has decided to meet with the state government in the coming days and that they will submit a proposal to reform the MPSC.

“Firstly, we don’t need any more political appointees. If there are political appointees, then their eligibility should be made at the highest level because they are looking after the commission, which looks into the careers of all the aspiring students,” Najiar said.

“Secondly, we want the interviews for Group A to be held in front of the camera. Moreover, there should not be any personal interviews for Group B and Group C, and the candidates should be recruited based on merit. The other things involved are the time frame. From the date of the advertisement to the recruitment process, we demand all recruitment to be made within one year. We will put other demands in place when we meet with the government,” Najiar added.

Also Read: MPSC to advertise for vacancies and recruitments in a time-bound manner

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