Editor,
After a hiatus of almost five years, the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has finally conducted the Combined Examination, which is commendable given the long wait aspirants endured. However, it is concerning to note that the quality of the question papers was not up to the mark. Even after so much of public and media trial, the commission has again shown its casual behaviour towards the prestigious examination.
The GS Paper 1 was predominantly focused on static and factual questions, with little to no emphasis on conceptual or analytical understanding of the syllabus. The paper was no less than any Group C/D examination. This is disappointing, as the recruitment process for officers demands testing their critical and analytical abilities, which are crucial for solving real-world problems effectively. By focusing heavily on static content, the paper failed to assess the conceptual understanding of genuine aspirants.
The issue with the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) paper was even more concerning. Numerous errors were observed, including incorrect questions and options. To address this, the commission has reportedly awarded grace marks for three questions, amounting to a significant 7.5 marks. While this may seem like a quick solution, it is inherently unfair to aspirants who have genuinely worked hard to prepare for the exam.
If grace marks are awarded indiscriminately, it dilutes the qualifying standards of the CSAT and disadvantages those who have put in genuine effort to meet the requirements. Therefore, instead of awarding blanket grace marks, the commission should adopt a more equitable approach. The qualifying criteria of 33% should be applied to the number of correct questions, excluding the erroneous ones. Meaning, a cut off of 33% of 77 instead of 80. I hope the commission takes due note of this and nullify the error questions itself than providing grace marks to all which will really be unfair to thousands of aspirants.
Furthermore, serious consideration should be made on setting quality questions next time.
An aspirant