Dimapur, August 2 (MExN): The Governor of Nagaland is appealed to urgently intervene into what the Transparency Seekers stated in a representation, is the arbitrary actions of the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC).
The representation appealed for the Governor’s immediate intervention on the grounds that the 13 disputable answers/questions acknowledged by the NPSC shows gross negligence and incompetence of the NPSC; that in any competitive examination even one mark decides the fate of candidates, leave alone the question of 26 marks as overlooked by the commission; that the reevaluation only for the unselected candidates within the margin of 182 to 206 marks basing on the correct answers by the NPSC does not serve any purpose of fairness; that the NPSC failed to consider the demand of the Transparency Seekers for reevaluation and re-declaration for the candidates scoring within the margin of 182 to 232 marks; that all the candidates must be treated with equal footing in the process of selection and such that only the meritorious must be allowed to sit for the mains.
Informing the Governor of the preceding events that led to the present situation, the representation stated that in the NCS & Allied Services preliminary examinations of 2007, there were 200 questions carrying two marks each, totaling 400 marks. The cut-off mark declared by the NPSC is set at 208 marks (i.e., 104 questions) for general category. However the cut-off mark for backward category (tribe wise) has not been declared, the representation stated.
Many discrepancies were found in the questions of the preliminary examinations 2007. For this the Guwahati High Court, Kohima bench was moved for release of the Model Answer Paper (MAP). On June 28, the court directed the commission to furnish the same within 7 days.
The groups stated that correct answers detected to be wrong in the MPA as furnished by the NPSC were then represented to the commission’s secretary on July 6th and the 12 pointing out 15 anomalies and a demand for clarification for the same. However the NPSC proceeded to publish its reply in a local daily on the 14th where it “regretted” 3 questions and the rest, “no anomalies.” Displeased by the tepid response, the Transparency Seekers demanded justification and reasonable answer based on authentic and reliable sources. The NPSC replied on July 20 through the local print media. However, it was discovered that most of the NPSC sources are from secondary information meant for market consumption and in addition, the facts given were incomplete in many respects, the group stated.
On this the Transparency Seekers stated they had sought an amicable solution but was refused by the NPSC on the matter asserting that the court had only directed to furnish the MAP.
The matter was then taken to the NSF, on whose intervention the NPSC acknowledged 13 anomalous questions, totaling 26 marks. By a resolution ion July 30, the commission and the NSF agreed for reassessment of the unselected candidates who scored within the margin of 182 to 206 marks basing only on the 13 corrected answers. However, the Transparency Seekers stated, without regarding the group’s demand for reevaluation and re-declaration of the preliminary results, the NPSC and the NSF resolved to execute the process of reassessment. On this, the NPSC was again approached by the Transparency Seekers reiterating their stand on reevaluation and re-declaration of the candidates who scored within the range of 182 and 232 marks. On these facts the groups has appealed to the Governor to intervene immediately so that justice is delivered on the fair grounds of spirit of good competition.
