Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission decides to conduct preliminary exam in single day after protests

Lucknow: Seemingly concerned over the electoral fallout of the protests by the students demanding single shift exams for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) examinations, which entered the fourth day on Thursday, ahead of the crucial by-polls on nine assembly seats in the state, the UP government partially accepted their demand but the students refused to call off their dharna saying it would continue untill all their demands were accepted.

The students demanded that the forthcoming coming examinations of PCS (Pre) and RO/ARO (pre) be held on a single day and in one shift.

After long deliberations, the Commission agreed to hold the PCS (pre) examination in one shift but formed a committee to examine the other demand saying that a decision on the same would be taken after it's report was submitted.

"Our dharna will continue untill all the demands are accepted..... it's a ploy to fool us", said a protesting student in Prayagraj.

The situation at the site of the protest in Prayagraj, where thousands of students have been on a 'dharna' since Monday, turned tense on Thursday morning after the students alleged that police in plainclothes forcibly removed some student leaders and whisked them away. There was also a scuffle between the cops and the protesting students in which some students were reportedly injured.

The news of the arrest of some student leaders spread like a wildfire and soon hundreds of students reached the site and started raising slogans against the cops and the administration.

As the opposition leaders attacked the state government for what they termed 'repressive tactics' against the protesting students, UP deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya accused the opposition leaders of trying to 'politicise' the issue and urged the authorities to resolve the issue at the earliest.

''The government is committed to protect the interests of the students....we will do whatever is possible to resolve the matter,'' Maurya said.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, who addressed an election meeting in Phulpur assembly constituency, which was not very far from the protest site, said that the BJP government was ''ant-student''. ''BJP is only interested in dividing people along communal lines.....it has nothing to do with issues like employment,'' Akhilesh said in the meeting.

According to the sources, many BJP leaders have urged the state government to resolve the matter immediately as it can 'hurt' the prospects of the party in the forthcoming assembly by-polls.

The students' protest spread to Lucknow and Barabanki on Thursday with dozens of students taking out processions expressing solidarity with the protesting students in Prayagraj.

The UPPSC had a few days back declared that the PCS (Pre) examination 2024 would be held on December seven and eight in two shifts. It had also announced that the examination for Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (Pre) 2023 would be held on December 22 and 23 in two shifts.

The protesting students have demanded that both the examinations be held in one day and in one shift.