Dear Editor,
This is with regards to the ongoing controversies regarding APPSCCE-17.
I would like to put forward my humble opinion about how the commission might just be able to tackle the situation in the most impartial way.
As per my knowledge, the number of candidates to be selected for Mains is at a ratio of 1:13 i.e 1365 candidates should be eligible for the second round of the examination.
1) It is only right that every candidate should be granted marks for the errors in the question papers.
2) Evaluate the result of all the candidates and see if actually the number of Geography students is abnormally high. Here we have to consider that after Indian History, Geography is the most chosen optional, so it is only normal that they would be among the highest selected. But people are making it sound like all 1300 selected would be from Geography which might not be true.
3) If (2) is not satisfactory, set a minimum cut-off of at least 33% for each paper and 45% overall like in most of the exams or as per the Commission discretion. Then re-evaluate as in (2).
4) If still there is a high number of Geography student, keep quotas for different subjects (having to qualify the minimum cut-off marks) or limit the number of Geography students by raising their cut-off marks.
Without much knowledge of the rule book, I feel this is as fair as the Commission can now get. The call for re-exam is mostly by those who haven’t performed well in G.S. apart from their own subject. Keeping quotas for all subjects would nullify any such claims of inequality as competition would be among the same optional paper candidates.
Having said this, I would like to request the Commission to learn from the experience and adopt the UPSC patter for Prelims but to go a step ahead for the Mains Exam and completely omit Optional Paper. In all likelihood, UPSC would follow suit as it is being highly speculated that the Baswan Committee Report-2016, which hasn’t been revealed yet, has made provision for G.S. only Mains exam. And it makes sense too. How could a high scoring Physics student, Biology student or any subject for that matter be a guaranteed good administrator? So sticking to only GS and including topics and subjects that is desirable from an administration point of view is the right way to go. Papers that can gauge one’s aptitude, attitude and decision making abilities apart from his knowledge in vast subjects pertaining to administration.
Lastly, I would like to appeal everyone to please refrain from spreading false rumors in social sites with baseless allegations. Have a look at the commission personally, it is definitely one of the most active departments in the state with all staff and officers working tirelessly to ensure that every deserving candidate gets his due. Don’t forget that in the past few months they have shown exemplary dedication by releasing every result instantly with display of marks scored by the candidates. That is transparency. Please don’t let a single slip blur your vision. Be patient and have trust, I am sure the commission won’t let anyone down. They will come up with a solution but only if you give them a breathing space.
Yours,
Reri Cain Dulom