Editor,
I would like to draw the attention of the APPSC regarding the marks moderation which, it seems, they are not aware of. It was commendable of them to emulate the exam pattern of the UPSC, but they forgot to emulate them in marks moderation.
After the marks were released, it became clear that optional was an extremely huge deciding factor in the selection of candidates. Optional should be a deciding factor but not such that it is tilted in favour of certain subjects. The GS marks of many candidates who could not clear were way higher than those selected, but the difference in optional were 200 marks, which is totally abysmal.
To resolve the unfair mark disparity, the UPSC recalibrates the marks of various optionals by scaling down the marks where marks have been given liberally (mostly science subjects) and by scaling up the marks of the other optionals (mostly humanities) where they have been given sub-par marks. This is done to reduce subjectivity and create a level playing field for all the optionals.
I really hope the commission looks into the matter and course-corrects itself, so that the hard working and deserving candidates are not left out because of biased and subjective assessment in future examinations.
An aspirant