Minor altercation, candlelight march mark Day 3 of students’ protest; aspirants meet mayor
The situation briefly turned tense when a police team stopped some aspirants from proceeding towards the protest site
Thousands of students sat on roads holding placards and voiced their outrage over changes to the PCS (Provincial Civil Services) and Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) Preliminary examinations even on Wednesday.
The student protest that erupted outside the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) office in Prayagraj entered its third day amid officials’ efforts to convince the students to call it off.
On the day, the situation briefly turned tense when a police team manning the barricades at the intersection near Gate No. 2 of the Commission’s office at around 1.30 pm stopped some aspirants from proceeding towards the protest site. The policemen reportedly asked them to produce their identity cards and started taking their photographs along with writing their names in a register.
This resulted in a heated argument resulting in dozens of students who were protesting at Gate No. 2 also reaching there.
Seeing the situation worsening, policemen made attempts to deescalate the situation and stopped checking the identity cards of students.
They said they were questioning the students only for their own safety so that no unruly element could spoil the atmosphere by joining the protest.
In the evening, the agitating aspirants took out a candle march at the protest site.
The day also witnessed a small delegation of protesting students meeting mayor Ganesh Kesarwani and requesting him to help the demand of students reach chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“I assured the students that once they submit their representation to me, I will ensure that it reaches the CM,” said Kesarwani confirming the development.
Meanwhile, in response to UPPSC presenting data of past exams that were taken by a large number of candidates and held over two days, the protesting students too produced data from Bihar wherein for soon-be-held Combined Competitive (preliminary) Examination (CCE-Pre) of around 5 lakh students, Bihar Public Service Commission is set to hold the preliminary recruitment exam in a single day by holding the exams in 34 out of the state’s 38 districts. The aspirants questioned why UPPSC couldn’t hold its preliminary exams for around 6 lakh students in one day.
Protester Ajay Singh, a native of Mirzapur, said Bihar had proposed to conduct one of its examinations on November 13 in 34 districts. “Nearly five lakh candidates have applied for the exam. There are nearly 6 lakh applicants for UP PCS. So why can’t the preliminary exam be conducted in a single day in 75 districts of UP?” he questioned.
Another aspirant Ratnesh Kumar Ratnakar said there were more educational institutions in UP than in Bihar and UPPSC should be in a position to easily conduct the exams in a single day using these institutions as centres. Another student Akash Mishra asked should the future of lakhs of students be put in jeopardy due to the fear of copying mafia. “Not being able to prevent paper leak is a flaw of the system, but the brunt of which is being borne by aspirants,” he claimed.
