 "UPPSC exam row: Protest enters fourth day; 12 booked for vandalism. Updates")
The student protests in Uttar Pradesh entered their fourth day on Thursday, with protesters floating the ‘one day, one exam’ demand for Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) entrance. Visuals emerged showing scores of students staging agitation in cities such as Prayagjraj, while opposing the UPPSC’s decision to split the exams into two days.
The commission’s Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer Preliminary Examinations are scheduled for December 22 and 23. Similarly, the Provincial Civil Service Preliminary Examination is set for December 7 and 8.
Students are demanding the exams be held on a single day, a practice that was followed earlier but later scrapped.
What led to student protests in Uttar Pradesh?
Despite the smaller number of protesters, the students have made it clear that they won’t back down until their demand is met. We will continue the agitation for one day, one exam, said Pratyush Singh, who was among the protesters stationed outside the UPPSC office.
According to officials, the issue emerged after the government decided against holding the examinations at private centres due to concerns over paper leaks. UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar said that earlier the same students had asked for only government establishments as exam centres. Now, when the government has implemented guidelines based on their earlier demand, they are protesting against it, he said, noting that the commission made it a policy to hold the exams at government-backed educational institutions, with each centre located within a 10-km radius of the district headquarters.
According to Kumar, the commission decided on holding the exams on two days as there are more candidates than the infrastructure can accommodate. This year, 576,000 candidates registered for the PCS examination, while the centres across 75 districts can accommodate 435,000 candidates.
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Meanwhile, the issue has become a flashpoint between the ruling Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and the Opposition parties. Reacting to the protests, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati urged the Uttar Pradesh government to ‘pay attention’ to the row, while focussing on streamlining the examination processes.
Akhilesh Yadav claimed that “the rise of the students will be the fall of the BJP.” UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya has called for an amicable solution to the issue. Amid the protests, UP police personnel and Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed at agitation sites. The police have also lodged a first information report (FIR) against 12 individuals for vandalism in connection with the protests.
[With inputs from agencies]